The Freedom of a Voice
by DestinyChangers
Summary: What if the fall of Beacon never occurred? What if one person bravely stood up against impossible odds and saved the kingdoms? Well, that person is none other than the girl known as Neo. A silent warrior with a terrible past. Neo has risen up from her dark past and wants to move forward. Hopefully, she'll be able to especially with the help of the team RWBY!
1. The Beginning

**This is a new story I suddenly got the story to write. After watching volume 4 I was sad that we didn't get to see Neo. She's one of my favorite characters and I don't think we get enough of of her. I do appreciate all feedback bothe positive and negative. Anything really as long as it helps me be a better writer. So without further ado here you go.**

Soaring through the air was nothing new to me but flying a few thousand feet while holding onto a rocket powered locker was completely different. The wind pushed me and the locker from side to side as I approached the Atlesian Battleship looming over the city. The ship rapidly grew quicker larger as the distance between the two of us shortened.

The sudden force of the impact of the locker and myself landing on the ship shot through my body. Letting go of the locker I steadied myself even with my shaky legs. Gusts of wind threatened to topple me over and push me of the ship as the swarm of avian flew overhead. Behind me my red cloak flowed with every movement I or the wind made. The occasional Griffon or Nevermore dove down toward the ship but quickly turned around as a set of automatic turrets opened fire.

Using Crescent Rose as an anchor to keep myself from falling. No one opened the hatch in the middle of the ship to check who was making the noise. I knew something was wrong even before I landed on it. The ship had cut it's communication between it and the other Atlesian battleships. Then it had used it's main cannon to severely injure of the others nearby. It was quite clear that it had been hijacked.

When I did manage to make it to the hatch I knelt down and grabbed hold of the latch. With strong tug on the hatch I tried to pull it open. Luck was not mine today and no matter how hard I pulled it would not open. I would have to resort to more forceful measure. Condensing Crescent rose down into its sniper rifle mode I made quick work of blowing away the hatches bolts. A single kicked to it and I was inside the ship.

A fell a few feet and hit the ground just after the hatch did. It might have been easier to take the latter but it would have slowed me down. I exited the room and entered into a white brightly lit hallway. I'd never spent been inside an Atlesian Battleship but it came as no surprise that it was this pristine.

Even though it was a military weapon it was as clean and pristine as a mansion. White flooring ran along the length of the walls, ceiling and floor. The only thing that offset it was bright blue light that ran along the walls making it look like it had wires running through it. Every few feet there was either a door or panel on the wall.

Walking to one of the walls I taped the panel and a screen lit up. A few clicks and I found a set of direction that would lead me to the bridge. Tat was where I would most likely find those who were now controlling the ship.

As I ran down the hallways the smell of metal began to thicken in the air. It was a smell that no one should ever become familiar with. Slowing down I slowed my pace so as to check my surroundings. Crescent Rose would be too big to use in my scythe form and meant I could only use it as a rifle.

Rounding the corner I found where the scent of blood was coming from. A set of barricades had been set up to defend the bridge. Whatever it was they tried to stop had clearly won. The once white walls were covered in a thick red crimson and on the floor it sat in dark red puddles.

About a dozen bodies laid behind the barricade each extremely pale. A quick check revealed that they had been killed by a slim sharp blade. Each of their bodies was covered in small stab marks and long slashes. One of the crew even had his eye taken out by the attacker.

Moving past the bodies as careful as I could so as not to disturb them made my way to the door they were protecting. Checking to make sure there was a round in Crescent Rose's chamber I hit the button that opened the door and walked inside.

The bridge was everything I had expected it to be. Colored the same white as the rest of the ship. Along the walls ran multiple types of computers and stations. Some had full sized monitors while somewhere just a table filled with buttons. In the corner was another body similar to the ones outside. That wasn't what worried me. What did was the two figures standing in the middle of the room.

The air was heavy as I tried to make sense of the situation. Roman Torchwick was standing with his back up to a wall. In front of him was a small pink and brown haired girl holding an umbrella with a very sharp blade up to his throat. The air in the bridge was heavy and uninviting but the situation was even more so.

Roman Torchwick was standing on the bridge in his usual attire. His orange hair poked out from underneath his bowler hat and some seemed to cover his left eyes. Roman wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. The girl was also someone I recognized.

Just as Yang had described her, the girl was very small standing at about 4' 11". She had pink hair on her right side and brown on her left. A small amount of white hair was mixed with the pink. Her eyes matched her hair one being pink and the other one brown. Her outfit was quite complex. She wore a white jacket with a pink interior, a pair of brown pants and a set of high heels. Underneath her jacket she wore a brown corset that curved at the bottom revealing her hips.

In her hand was the deadly cane Roman had used against her team countless times. In her other was the umbrella pointed at Roman's throat. A small blade poked out from the end and blood trickled from where it touched his skin.

Neo face was emotionless all except for her eyes. She had tears streaming down her face. The tears were not from sadness but anger. Something told me she was doing this for a reason. Roman was trying to get away from the blade and even had his hands held high in the air.

"Oh come on Neo! We can fix this just give me the scroll Cinder gave you. Then we can still complete our side of the deal. I'll even let you kill little red over there." A smirk from the orange hair did nothing to make the girl back off. If anything it made her push on the blade a little harder.

Roman tried to look over towards me but the feeling of the blade on his neck kept him looking forward. Neo shook her head and threw the cane to the ground on the other side of the room. With a single swift movement Neo pulled out her scroll from a pocket and started to type on entire time she didn;t take a single peak at the scroll but kept it on Roman.

Neo lifted up the scroll shoving it into Roman's face. He took a second reading over the scroll and let out a long sigh. "Do I really have to.?" Another push on the blade and Roman began to tell me what was on the scroll. "Umm Neo wants me to tell you she's sorry for what's about to happen."

I raised the rifle and leveled it at Neo and put my finger on the trigger thinking that she was going to charge me and try and run me through. Instead with a flick of her wrist, she shoved the umbrellas blade into Roman's neck. Two set of wide eyes looked back at the girl fro both sides of the room. Neo pulled the blade free with a single graceful move making Roman let out a gasp.

Unable to breathe Roman tried to take in a breathe struggling from the lack of oxygen. Each gasp was useless blood flowed from the wound and with every attempt to breath more flowed slightly quicker. He was choking on his own blood and it wasn't going to be long before he was dead. After thirty seconds of both Neo and I staring at the dying figure a final breath was released by Roman. Blood stained his still body and had formed a pool on the floor around him.

A sudden movement from Neo made me jump and almost pull the trigger my finger was on. Neo went across the room and grabbed the cane she had thrown and moved back to the body and laid the cane across Roman's chest. It was a subtle move showing some respect as she closed his eyes. To me it was confusing."Why did you do that."

Neo grabbed her scroll and began to type on it. With impressive speed, she finished and held it up. I was too far away to see what she wrote and I didn't plan to come any closer. Neo let out a silent sigh and gently placed her umbrella down on a console. She took a few steps closer and stopped when the barrel of Crescent Rose pushed against her chest.

Keeping the the gun where it was I reached forward snatching the scroll from her hand. I took a few steps back putting some distance between the two of us in case she tried something. I looked down at the scroll and began to read what it said.

 _I know you don't trust me but you need to. This battleship was never the true objective what Cinder's after is something much more powerful._

I gave another look to the scroll and tossed it back to the owner. I don't know why she wasn't talking but it made me feel unnerved. "Even if I should trust how can I? You tried to kill my sister, my friends. Then you killed Roman right in front of me. If anything that makes me want to do the complete opposite."

Neo didn't take more than a second before she started to type on her scroll. This time decided to lightly toss the scroll at me instead of handing it over.

 _All those things I did before were not my choice. I've had things done to me that would make people wished they could die. Everything I've ever had has been stolen including my voice. Killing Roman was the first act of free will I've committed in a long time. I don't plan to let the people who did this to me get away. Those people are the ones who are attacking the city and we both need each others help to stop them._

What Neo was saying made sense. Whatever Roman had done to her must've been pretty bad. This time I walked back of to Neo and placed the scroll in her hand. I then picked up the umbrella she had and tossed it at her. Neo caught it with ease and took a step toward the door. I put myself between her and it. I still had some questions that needed to be answered.

"I have a question. Why didn't you run away from Roman. You said he took everything you had. What kept you with him?"

Neo eyes dropped and she used her umbrella to scoop a circular piece of metal off the ground. When I looked at it and it seemed to be a simple gold bracelet. Upon closer inspections, I saw a small need that was on the inside of it. Neo showed me her wrist where there was a small wound from where the needle had been stuck in her arm. Whatever the bracelet did it seemed painful and didn't need to be questioned anymore.

"Ok then if we're going to do this then we need a plan. Grimm are all over the city and reports of White Fang attacking are popping up."

Neo was already ready with a plan as we walked down the hall to where a set of airships was stored in the hangar. She handed me her scroll. On it was a detailed plan of the attacks coordination. In it it displayed where the Grimm would breach the wall and where White Fang focused their attacks. Neo tapped on a button and it sent the document to a form that could be sent to anyone. I quickly typed in as many numbers I could remember and sent it out. I just hoped they would get it in time.

When we made it to the hanger Neo walked up to one of the console and began to type away. She only looked up to point at one of the shuttles. I understood what she meant and made my way over to it. Clicking a button on the back a door slid open and I stepped inside. The hanger doors began to open as I took my seat and a moment later Neo was sitting in the pilot's seat starting up the ship.

"Please tell me you know how to drive this thing!" Neo didn't need to say anything even if she could. The look she gave was enough to answer the question. Neo sat trying to adjust her seat to go higher but had no luck. Being the size of an eleven year old meant most things weren't made for her size.

Neo glared around the ship looking for a solution to her her problem .Finally her gaze landed on a plastic first aid kit. Neo grabbed it and placed it onto the seat then sat down on top of it. The case added a couple inches to her height and Neo was able to look through the ship's windshield. Grabbing hold of a lever she pushed it forward and we shot free from the ship.

As we flew there were two things I learned. One was that Neo new how to fly an Airship. The second thing I learned was that when she flew very fast and dangerously.

We soared over vale watching the chaos that had consumed the seemed to fall from our hearts as groups of Grimm ran freely through the streets. From where we where we saw small groups of soldiers fighting back against the Grimm. Many Grimm fell to the soldiers and their Atlesian knights but in return so did soldiers. There were just too many Grimm.

As we approached the school my scroll began to buzz and I pulled it out of my pocket. When I pulled it out it showed a incoming call from Yang a quick push of a button and I was connected to her. "Rubes are you ok where are you?"

"I'm fine Yang! I'm almost at the school tell me what's going on down there." Yang paused for a few moments but spoke after a few moments.

"It's pretty hectic down here right now. I just met up with Weiss and Blake. A lot of Grimm are running around here. Luckily the Atlesian knights are helping us take care of them."

"That's good when I get their meet me at the courtyard. I should be there in five minutes."

"Ok Rubes we'll meet you there. Just be safe!" Yang's voice shook as she spoke. It was rare that Yang ever got so emotional. She was always the one who poured courage and urged the group to keep moving forward.

"I will and Yang there is one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I'm bringing someone with me. You may not like it but-but we need her. Just trust me." Another pause came from the other side of the phone. It sounded like Yang was talking with the others but I couldn't tell. "I trust you Ruby but just get here quick."

When the call ended I looked over to Neo who gave a quick glance my way. "You do know who my sister is. Don't you?" I hoped Neo could hear the worry in my voice. How could I explain to Yang that the person I was bringing along was none other than the person who tried to kill her. Neo gave a single nod but kept looking forward.

Neo may have been mute but that didn't mean she was silent. Her body spoke every word she couldn't. Right now it showed how she felt about coming into contact with Yang. Neo was shifting back and forth uncomfortably on her makeshift high seat. Her eyes were darting back and forth nervously and she was constantly stealing glances at me. She had just killed a man and she was more worried about confronting Yang.

After a minute or two the airship finally made it to our destination. Neo set the ship down on the landing strip a little too fast causing the ship to shake violently. Even if it wasn't the safest flight or landing it was the enough to get us to where we needed to go. Neo and I departed from the plan and broke into a sprint. Neo knew the layout of the school just as well as I did. Maybe even more.

As we ran across the school grounds we could see students battling scores of Grimm. Some of them seemed to be doing quite fine while others struggled against the creatures of darkness. A group Atlesian robots were moving along one of the path taking down groups of Grimm. Many of the younger Grimm fell but a duo of Alpha Beowolfs got close enough to the group to to tear the bots apart.

The robots couldn't protect themselves from the Grimms sharp blades nor could they pierce their armor with bullets. The attack was brutal and quick leaving pieces of the robots all over the the path. The Grimm were done with their prey and moved on to find it's next target.

It just happened to be our luck that we were the first thing they saw. The bigger of the two let out a ear piercing howl and took of running straight for us. I looked to my right to see if Neo was ready for a fight but saw nothing. I deployed Crescent Rose and turned to face the Grimm. That was when I spotted Neo.

She was running to meet the Grimm and with her umbrella at her side. The Grimm didn't slow down as it raised a paw ready to strike down the small girl. Without missing a pace the claw descended and crushed into the ground. The attack had missed the prey and it was the last mistake it would ever make.

Neo jumped up onto the Grimm's back holding onto one of the bones protruding from it back. Using her umbrella she stabbed the blade into it's neck and a fountain of black blood flowed from the wound. The Beowolf let out a low moan as it crashed to the ground and began to disintegrate in a cloud of black mist. Neo slid of the Grimm's back and wiped her blade to the side flinging off the Grimm's blood as it turned to black mist like the rest of it's body.

Neo was facing me as the second Alpha pounced at her. I couldn't do anything but shout at her as a set of teeth sunk into her shoulder. Or it would have if Neo's figure didn't shatter into a thousand pieces of glass. I didn't know what was happening but I quickly shot two rounds at the Grimm. The both hit their marks piercing the Grimm's chest between two pieces of armor.

This Grimm just like the other fell to the ground with a howl. This time the Grimm was still alive even as it slowly bled to death. Neo appeared next to the creature and silenced it with a blade through the eye. The entire time she was calm and collected while I was worried. I had thought the Beowulf had killed her. "Neo are you alright. What was that you did?"

Neo was on her scroll typing without hesitation. _I'm fine. I'm not that easy to kill. So don't worry I can take care of myself._

Neo was right. I didn't need to worry about her. She seemed like she could handle herself in a fight. This one was enough to show proof of that. She'd killed the alpha with a single attack and was prepared to do it again. "Ok, but please do be careful. Now let's get a move on. My team is probably waiting for us."

Neo took a hesitant step towards our destination but soon matched my pace. Even if our height was different I definitely had the speed advantage. From what Yang had told me Neo was very skilled at hand to hand combat. She would make a bad enemy and a very good ally.

It didn't take long for us to make it to the courtyard. It wasn't very far from where we were. It also helped that we didn't run into any Grimm.

When we got there Blake, Weiss and Yang were waiting for us. Each of them was beat up pretty badly but not enough to stop them from continuing on. Neo fell into step behind me using me as cover from the my team. Yang rushed forward and pulled me into a giant hug. The instant her arms were around me she forced the air from my lungs.

"Ughh.. Yang… Can't…... Breeaatthhee!" Yang let go and gave an apologetic smile. "Damn Ruby you worried us all. Weiss said you just ran off. Why would you make us worry like that."

Yang's question made me think. Should I tell her what happened or not? Somehow she still hadn't seen Neo and I was glad because it gave me time to explain the situation. "Someone took over one of the Atlas battleships and I couldn't let that happen. When I got on board I found Roman and umm." I paused nervously. I still had no idea how yang was going to react.

"What did you find Rubes?"

I stepped to the side and revealed Neo to the three in front of me. Weiss and Blake stepped back and pointed their weapons at Neo but neither moved. Yang did the opposite. She slammed a bare fist right into Neo launching her backwards into one of the many marble pillars standing in the courtyard. If what I'd seen was correct Neo didn't try to move out of the way of the punch. She took it all head on.

"Yang stop. You can't hurt her!" Yang pushed past me and picked up Neo in one hand while priming a shell in Ember Celica. Yang placed the gauntlets barrel under Neo's chin ready to fire. "Tell me why I shouldn't. She's the one who tried to kill me on the train."

"Yang that wasn't her fault. Roman was controlling her. She couldn't help it!"

"How can I believe that. If that's the case what's the chances he's controlling her now. We've been a thorn in his side and he sent her to stop us." Yang's barrel dug harder into Neo's chin but the girl didn't flinch. I ran forward and grabbed onto Yang's arm trying to pull her away. Even if I used all my strength it would have been useless Yang was far stronger.

"Yang he isn't controlling her. He can't because she's…"

""He's what Ruby? Tell me!"

"He's dead. When I got onto the ship I found the entire crew dead. I made my way to the bridge and came up the two of them. Neo's the reason why roman wasn't able to turn the atlas droids against us. She stopped him!"

Yang's grip loosened and Neo fell free to the ground. Yang took a few steps back still keeping tow bright red eyes on the girl. Only after a few seconds did the return to their usual lilac color. "Fine but If she tries anything I swear they'll have to scrape her off the wall when I'm done."

Neo stood up from the ground where Yang dropped her she pulled out her phone and began to type away on it. When she was done she held it out for me and I took it. It took me a little bit to read it but I got the basic idea.

"Neo want' me to tell you we need to go find Cinder. She's after something that Ozpin has hidden at the school. If she gets it she'll become unstoppable." Worry filled my voice as I spoke. The idea of Cinder being so powerful that no one could stop her was terrifying. She could destroy all that we've tried to protect.

"I saw Jaune and Pyrrha running toward the CCT tower if anything that's where they'll be." Weiss's words were proud and confident but when she continued they were more reserved. "Ruby can I ask why you're telling us this and not Neo?"

"Oh, that's because she can't speak. Well, at least not without her scroll!"

The three girl looked like I was crazy for saying what I did. I wasn't but right now that didn't matter we needed to stop Cinder.

"We'll ok then. If we're gonna do this then we need a plan. Jaune and Pyrrha are already at the tower. I say two of us give them back up while the rest keep the Grimm off them. How does that sound." All of us quickly agreed on Weiss's plan. However there was still one problem.

"So then who are we sending into the tower?" we all looked at each other. Yang, Blake, and Weiss were pretty badly beat up. If they tried to fight Cinder in their condition it wouldn't end well.

"I say Neo and I should go inside. You three are in no condition to fight against Cinder."

"How can we send you in there. Ruby you've only just met. HER and now you plan to run into a battle and not expect her to stab you in the back. I don't like this idea." Yang's disapproval of the idea was clear in her voice. Especially when talking about Neo it took a very sharp tone.

"Yang I know you don't like it but this is the only option. If we were to try and find another way we might not make it in time. Or someone might get hurt." Yang let out a low growl and tightened up. I knew she didn't want to send me in with Neo but like I said it was the only option. "Fine but you better come back!" A small nod was all I needed to do to tell her I would.

With a plan figured out, we all took off toward the tower. Occasionally a Grimm would get the idea to try and fight us. In return, a dust round through the skull stopped them pretty quick.

The tower was at the end of the courtyard sitting in the middle of the entire school. It was an impressive building standing over all of Beacon and Vale. The tower was tired standing close to three hundred feet tall. Three smaller pillars stood around the base connected with arches about a third of the way up.

Neither Neo or I stopped running until we were inside the tower. I looked back as the doors slid shut and watched as my team took defensive stances around the door. When the door slid shut I turned and walked through the main atrium with Crescent Rose drawn. Neo did the same holding her umbrella out to the side.

The atrium didn't seem to be damaged at all. A few chairs were overturned and papers were scattered on the ground. Neo walked over to one of elevators and hit the button. Both of us aimed our weapons at the doors as they slid open. When the doors did open we were surprised to find a very damaged elevator.

Both Beo and I stepped into the elevator cautiously. Wire had been stripped from it panel and Neo grabbed hold of the two pulled free and pushed them together. When the two wires came into contact the elevator started back up and descended downward. Looking up at the floors each lit up as we went lower and lower. We should have stopped moving but didn't.

The elevator speed began to pick up and I could feel my feet lift off the ground. We were going so fast that gravity effects had lessened. The numbers on the elevator stopped changing but still we continued to fall. Then as suddenly as the elevator moved it stopped. Both Neo and I hit the ground hard. Luckily the impact didn't harm us and we were able to continue on.

Wherever we where it was obviously meant to be hidden. The room was gigantic at least five hundred feet long. Pillars lined the wall and at the end I could see two people next to a glowing machine. Whatever it was doing it sounded painful the shrieks of a girl echoed through the hall. A very clear voice could be heard. "Pyrrha!"

It was now clear who the two standing in front of the machine was. Jaune and Ozpin in two completely different stances. Jaune was standing with his sword and shield drawn with his feet spread. He looked like he was going to run forward at the machine at any second. Ozpin was the opposite. He was leaning on his cane with the usual calm demeanor.

While Jaune was yelling Pyrrha's name a woman in a long red dress stepped out from behind a pillar. She held up a black bow that glowed with a orange blaze. When she drew back the string her raven hair was pushed to the side revealing her face. The assailant was none other than Cinder.

Whatever she was aiming for seemed important. She was taking her time to aim while none of the two noticed her. From where me and Neo stood there was nothing we could do. Cinder would fire before we even cleared half of the two hundred feet between us. All I could do was alert Jaune and Ozpin of Cinder's presence.

Taking in a quick breath I put all I had into my shout. "JAUNE LOOK OUT IT'S CINDER!" My squeaky yell reached Jaune just in time and started Cinder in return. She released her arrow and let it fly towards her target. It soared across the room heading for one of the two large pods hooked up to the arrow was a few feet from the pod when a loud clang echoed through the hall and sparks shot out of the machine.

Jaune had reacted quickly enough to raise his shield up into the arrow's path. As it made impact it skipped across the shields surface and flew into the control board between the two pods. Sparks flew free and the machines golden glow died down.

Cinder was clearly not amused and drew back another arrow and fire it. Jaune was completely ready this time knocking the arrow out of the air with his shield. "Cinder you're plan's failed can't you see that. Just give up."

Jaune's voice was solid as he spoke never wavering as he tried to persuade the raven haired Cinder. The problem was no matter how much he tried the girl wasn't going to give up to a few words.

"Silly little boys. Neither of you have any idea of the power you're playing with. SO STEP OUT OF MY WAY! If you don't it will not end well for either of you." Cinder didn't move from where she stood the entire time. Ozpin on the other hand was turned to face the girl.

"My dear Cinder I must ask. Do you have any idea about the power we are playing with? Because to me it seems all you want to do is use it for your own sake. We on the other hand wish to use it to protect the world. So tell me whose purpose it more righteous, Ours or yours?"

Cinder was clearly upset at the Silver-haired Headmaster. He had just made fun of her for wishing to gain more power and she didn't know how to respond.

"Mr. Arc would you be so kind as to help Miss Nios from her pod. It seems the machine is in need of some repairs! Oh and Miss Rose and Hmm I don't know who is standing next to you. Would you be as so kind to help Jaune as well.'

Neither of us moved at first. Cinder was standing in our way and we would have to pass her to get to Jaune. The first to move was none other than Ozpin himself. He headed straight for Cinder holding his cane out to his side. "Once you have helped Miss Nikos I may have need for you assistance." With those last words spoken Ozpin charged forward at Cinder slashing with his cane.

That was the cue for Neo and I to move and same for Jaune. Ozpin had stolen all of Cinder's attention allowing for the two of us to slip past the raging battle. The usually slow moving teacher flew across the room with a clear grace to every movement. Cinder kept up with the man matching every attack with a block and attacking with another. The entire fight was a deadlock of green and red flashes.

When Neo and I made it to Jaune he was already quickly working on the pod. When we got close enough we could see a very nervous Pyrrha through the glass. Suddenly the sound of hissing air escaped from pipes that shot free a gas. The pod slid open and Pyrrha fell out coughing. "Jaune it didn't work. I don't have the Maiden's power."

A look of worry passed over Jaune's face. Whatever they had tried to do clearly failed. But neither Neo or I had any Idea what they were talking about.

"Pyrrha what are you talking about. What were you trying to do and What's a Maiden."

Pyrrha looked to Jaune who gave her a small nod. Whatever it was seemed pretty intense. "Ruby and whoever you are. What if I told you some Fairytales are real. The Maiden's are one such tale. Each Maiden is based on one of the four season and each have an incredible power. Cinder tried to take it from the Fall Maiden. She failed and only took some but she came back for the rest. Ozpin gave me the chance to take the power and use it since the previous fall maiden can't."

"I really don't understand what you're saying. Whatever it seems really important so I'll help you with it. Just try and explain it to me again slower when we're done."

Jaune and Pyrrha gave a nod agreeing to the conditions. Jaune then spoke to Neo who was standing behind me. "So umm who are you?

Neo leaned out from behind me and began to type on her scroll. I held out my hand stopping her giving her a look. She understood what I meant and put it away. "This is Neo and she's here to help. It's a long story she used to work for Roman but I learned that she was forced to. Then she helped take back the Atlesian battleship and now she's helping us. Oh and she can't talk so she uses her scroll."

Two sets of eyes settled on me. Both told said the same thing. She's crazy! Even though they obviously didn't like the situation small nods said they understood. "We'll it's nice to meet you Neo. I'm Pyrrha and this is Jaune."

Jaune didn't say anything but did give a wave to Neo. Even though it was an awkward situation is was nice to see them trying to make the best of it. "So what do we do now?"

Just as I spoke an explosion rocked the hall and I had to place my hand on the ground in order to steady myself. Small rocks fell from the ceiling and we all took it that we needed to move.

I was the first to make it to the elevator and found it was not in the best shape. Ozpin and Cinder's fight had moved upstairs and had used the elevator shaft to do so. When I stepped inside I found that the cable was still connected but the mechanism was melted and it wasn't going anywhere. "Uhh guys we have a problem."

The other three stepped into the elevator and looked up and Jaune let out an upset grunt. Pyrrha reached up and gave the wire a tug clearly testing it. "If you guys trust me then I have any idea."

Jaune laid a hand on Pyrrha's should giving her the go ahead. Whatever her idea was it was clearly better than not having one. Jaune removed his hands and Pyrrha moved over to the middle of the elevator. Using her semblance she grabbed hold of the elevator covering it in a black shine. Pyrrha's face contorted as she tried to urge to elevator upward but no matter how hard she tried it wasn't moving. "I can't move it something's blocking us!"

This was my time to shine I jumped out the hatch on the elevator and looked around for whatever it was blocking the elevator. What I found was a steal beam had fused to the elevator and wall. One quick swing of Crescent Rose and we were free to ascend. I jumped back into the elevator and gave Pyrrha the go ahead.

Using her semblance once again Pyrrha grabbed ahold of the elevator covering it in a black shine. Metal screeched and bent as the elevator began to ascend up the shaft. Pyrrha never lost her focus but the use of her semblance on such a heavy object must have been very difficult. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Eventually her arms and legs began to shake as she reached the atrium.

Once we reached the atrium all four of us hopped out. Jaune had to help Pyrrha since she was still supporting the elevator. Once we were all out Pyrrha stopped using her semblance and the entire elevator fell back down the shaft. Fifteen seconds later the sound of metal impacting on the ground and being crushed echoed from the shaft.

Once again the entire CCT tower shook all around us. From what I could understand the source was coming from the to of the tower. The only problem was how we were going to get up without an elevator. "So any ideas how to climb a three hundred foot tower without an elevator?"

Two heads shook giving a clear no. The third, however, didn't move instead Neo's hand pointed toward a door. Above it was a sign that read "Authorized Personnel Only" under it was a picture of a person walking up stairs

"Well, at least we don't have to climb!"

 **I know this was a long chapter but I do wish to keep them longer then other stories though a little short then this one. Thanks for reading and I hope you come back. "Will try and update on Sundays.**


	2. The Tower

**I would quickly like to apologize for being late I was sick with a fevr the past week and had trouble writing this chaprter. Don't worry I'm better and this week I should be back on schedule!**

I learned one thing very quickly as we ascended the stairs. The first was no person no matter how in shape, strong or energetic can climb thirty flights of stairs. Not at least without becoming extremely tired.

The four of us reached the floor below Ozpin's office and collapsed to the ground panting and groaning in pain.

My thighs were on fire and I felt like I was still climbing the stairs even as I sat down on the ground leaning onto the wall. The room was large but was surprisingly empty. In the middle of the room was a large desk with a computer a printer. Papers and files were open on the desk and had been left out like the person had left in a hurry. The odds where they had. In the back of the room was a door that looked like it led to a large conference room. Other than that the room was bare.

Neo sat down next to me taking a similar position. Her umbrella was propped up on the wall next to her. She seemed just as tired when she breathed out a silent sigh. No matter what it was Neo never seemed to make a noise. While we sat both of us to began to rub our aching muscles trying to gain some relief.

Jaune walked into the room a minute after us and quite literally flopped down onto the ground. He spread out his arms and legs like he was making a snow angel and took long deep breaths. Pyrrha walked last coming in only a few steps behind Jaune. Pyrrha had fared the best out of all four of us. However, even she was breathing hard and had beads of sweat on her forehead.

"I take it back I would rather have climbed. You couldn't ask me to do that again even if you promised me all the cookies in the world. Well maybe for that but you know what I mean!"

Jaune and Pyrrha gave a small laugh at the joke and even Neo cracked a smile. The joke eased the mood and gave each of us a little more energy. Neo grabbed my attention with a nudge to my side and held her scroll out in front of me.I looked down at it so that I could read it.

We need a new plan on how we're going to stop Cinder. She's above us right now but we can't get up there without the elevator. Any Ideas?

"Guys Neo wants to know how we're supposed to get into Ozpin's office. Some of us can climb up the elevator but that would make it easier for Cinder to pick us off."

Jaune sat up and began to look around the room for anything we could use. The room was so bare that there wasn't much to go off of. As for getting upstairs Neo was right Ozpin's office could only be accessed by an elevator and it was currently sitting at the bottom of the shaft crushed beyond repair. "Umm Ruby, how would you feel about going outside for a quick climb?"

I didn't know what Pyrrha meant and had to think about what she said. For starters how would we get outside? Second, what was I going to climb and finally was Why? "Well, it depends on what I have to climb and why. But more importantly what are trying to get at?"

Pyrrha didn't start to explain but walked over to the elevator doors and pried them open.A quick use of her semblance and she started to drag the long elevator cable into the room. After a few minute of doing so, the cable came to an end where it had been broken off.

"Ruby you're right. If we all go in by climbing up the elevator shaft Cinder can easily beat us. But what if we don't go in just through the shaft?"

"But how Pyrrha. The only way into Ozpin's office is through the elevator. How would we get in?"

"Ruby, how many times have you been inside of Ozpin's office?

"A few times why?"

"Can you tell me what he has behind his desk."

"A chair!"

"No a window! If you can climb the side up to it we can distract Cinder and you two can surprise her by coming through it."

Pyrrha was right, behind Ozpin's desk was a large circular window big enough for almost anyone to fit through. If we could get up there and surprise Cinder then we had a chance to win. The only problem was climbing up a building three hundred feet in the air. I looked over to Neo who gave a nod to the plan. If she could do it then I had no other choice than to do it too.

I turned my gaze to Pyrrha who took it as the go-ahead to get the plan started. The first thing she did was cut off a large portion of the cable using her sword Miló. She cut enough free that we had a least a hundred feet of cable but also left enough for her and Jaune to be able to climb up the elevator shaft.

Jaune was the first to speak even with his still raspy breath. "That doesn't explain how they're supposed to get outside. I don't see any windows do you?"

"Patience Jaune I was getting to that. On the other side of that door is a conference room. The entire wall it made up of a window, I do believe it will be quite sufficient." Jaune shrunk back a little at being called out by his partner. He may have jumped ahead but it wasn't anything to be ashamed of. I anything he was ashamed of being called out by the girl he clearly liked.

"Sorry got a little ahead of myself."

No one responded but it was clear the apology was accepted. Neo and I stood up and grabbed ahold of the cable. Instinctively we began to wrap it up so that we could move it. It took some time since a lot of the cable was turned and coiled incorrectly. Once we did get it together Neo and I began carried it over to the conference room. A kick to the locked door and then we were inside.

We laid the cable down on the long conference table and walked over to the glass window. It was thick but it was something that a quick hit from Crescent Rose would fix. I deployed the scythe and held it backward behind me. Right before I swung Neo stepped in the way holding a finger up to her mouth. "Oh sorry forgot it's supposed to be a surprise."

Neo shook her head at my childish response trying to give it no mind. Neo body froze where she was standing keeping the same pose she had. The sudden change made me feel uneasy until I remembered she was using her semblance. Neo appeared next to her glass clone and stabbed it with her umbrella.

The clone shattered into sharp shards of glass spreading out over the floor. Neo reached down and grabbed one of the shards with her gloved hands. She then stepped over to the window and pushed the shard against it. Tracing a large circle with the shard leaving a thin line in the glass. She then brought up her umbrella and pressed the tip into the center. The circle of glass started to slide as Neo applied force it. Once the glass had been pushed far enough from the rest of the panel it fell free and tumbled down the side of the building.

"Well, that worked pretty well. Oh, and would you remind me never to touch the remains of your clones they seem. Sharp!" Neo gave a nod and tossed the shard she had in her hand out the window. Once that was done she grabbed the cable and brought it over to the window.

"So how are we gonna get the cable all the way up there? And how will we anchor it? I don't think we're going to climb up and tie it around something." Neo held up her hand in response and started tapping away on her scroll. Do you have any fire dust rounds?

"Ya, I think so!" I reached into my ammo pouch at my side and pulled out a small box that held ammunition. Looking through it I found what I was looking for and pulled it out. Neo gracefully snatched it out of my hands and laid the round down on the table. The next thing she did started to make me wonder what her idea was. Picking up on of the metal chairs she placed it on the table.

Can you cut the chair part off? I need the base for the plan. I didn't respond but pulled out Crescent Rose and extended it to its full size. Neo took a step back moving out of the way of my swing zone. Once she was free I swung the scythe and cut the chair in half feeling almost no resistance. Once I was done all that was left was the chair's base. Neo quickly broke off the wheels and set the base down on the conference table.

Next, she grabbed the dust round and used a small knife she pulled from her pocket to pry open the round. Once it was she very carefully picked the small red dust out of the gunpowder and placed it onto the straight part of the base. Neo then grabbed the cable and place the cable onto the straight of the base.

Neo looked at me and motioned for me to back up as she pulled a lighter out of her pocket. Once it was lighted she held up her knife to it letting it heat up till it became a brilliant red color. Backing up as far as she could while still holding the cable to the base she touched the tip of the blade to the shard of fire dust crystals.

The sudden touch by the incredibly hot knife acted as a catalyst for the crystal shard causing them to burst into flame. The fire didn't last long and was not large but was incredibly hot. It was actually so hot that it had fused the metal cable and chair base together acting as a makeshift welding tool.

Neo lifted the makeshift tool and gave the cable a twirl. The chair base stayed attached and it became clear what the object was. "You just made a grappling hook didn't you." Neo gave a nod then took it over to the hole in the window. Leaning outside Neo began to spin the cable like it was a lasso then threw it up through the air. A small thunk echoed through the ceiling but it was easily something that could be played off.

Neo gave the cable a strong tug making sure it was secure. It was and Neo grabbed the cable and dropped it out the window. Keeping ahold of the cable with one hand she lifted up her scroll and quickly typed a message with one hand. Once she was done she held it up to me. Tell the other were ready to go. Just need a minute to climb up to the window!"

I gave a nod and pulled out by own scroll. Going through my contacts list I kept going till I found Pyrrha's contact and clicked on it. Once I opened it I quickly typed out a message and sent it to her. Neo and I are ready. Need a minute to climb up the window. Be ready to distract Cinder so that we can get the jump on her. Ok!" One more tap on the screen and the message was sent to the two waiting for us.

I looked at Neo and Gave her a nod saying we were set. Neo got the message and grabbed clipped her umbrella to her side before she grabbed the cable with two hands and jumped outside. Once the cable stopped swinging around Neo started her ascent up towards Ozpin's office.

When Neo had climbed a good ways up I grabbed ahold of the cable while making sure Crescent Rose was secure in the holster on my back. I quick fix but once I was done I grabbed the cable with my other hand and mimicked Neo's action. Just like her once the cable stopped shaking I started my climb upwards.

By no means was the climb far. All it was was ten feet straight up. However, it didn't account for that we were close to three hundred feet in the air. One wrong move was all it would take for one or both of us to take a nice fall down to the earth below us.

Keeping my Eyes upward I followed Neo who was climbing quickly with an accent of grace with every move. Once she reached the bottom of the window she grabbed onto it and climbed up onto the window sill. The window sill only stuck out six inches but for us, it was all we needed.

Once I got up to the window sill I grabbed it and pulled myself up onto the opposite side of Neo. Both of us shuffled till we could peek inside into Ozpin's office. From what we could see Cinder was alone sitting in Ozpin's chair facing the elevator. Neo, Cinder and I stayed in that position for a couple seconds till a loud thunk echoed through the elevator.

Right after the noise, the elevator doors flew open letting Pyrrha and Jaune step inside. Once they were inside both drew their weapons while placing their shields between them and Cinder. Cinder stood up from the chair and began clapping her hands together. The sound was slightly muffled by the glass but it was clear enough for us to hear them talk.

"So you finally made it up here. I'm surprised I thought you would've given up by know!"

"We won't give up until we beat you!" Jaune was quick with a response but his voice didn't support the words he spoke. He was scared even though his stance was solid his voice was not. Each word wavered with the slight hint of fear.

"My dear boy do you think you can stop me. I've already beaten you. Vale and Beacon have fallen. Grimm run rampant through the streets and your poor back up from atlas has turned on you. What can you possibly do to stop that." Cinder spoke with power in her voice. It was the power of someone who thought they had won while the game was still being played.

"Ha, you think Vale has fallen. It hasn't right know huntsman and ATLAS soldiers are fighting back the Grimm. You haven't won. You've lost!" Jaune's word were more powerful this time. Each word powered the next when he released Cinder's full plan wasn't in effect. I had stopped her from taking over the Atlesian robots stopping her plan from being completed.

Cinder turned away from Jaune and Pyrrha looking outside the window. Neo and I ducked out her sight staying hidden. "Do you think I wouldn't have a backup plan. You're a fool if you thought I didn't."

Cinder turned back to face the two teammates with a grin on her face. Underneath us, the ground began to shake prompting Neo and I to hold onto the window sill tighter. I looked over my shoulder looking for the source. One of the mountains in the background had a landslide falling down its side.

As the dirt fell down its side's The rock underneath cracked and a black scaled head popped through. A roar that shook the air echoed through Vale and Beacon as the Grimm roared out into the sky. Just as the roar ended the ground shook once more as it dragged the rest of its body out of the mountain. With a quick shake of its body to remove the dirt from its body, the dragon Grimm started to climb the mountain till it reached the top. Once it reached the peak the Dragon reared back its body and let it two large wings extend from its arms.

With two large flaps of its wings, the dragon took flight flying through the skies of below it was a toy for the freshly awoken grimm to play with and it was done with naptime.

Streaks of lights shot across the sky towards the dragon trying to desperately land a blow. None of them did as the missed the grimm as it dove toward them. The dragon disappeared as it entered onto one of the streets out of view. An explosion rocked the ground sending plumes of smoke and fire through the streets as the dragon wrecked havoc. Nothing stood in its path as the grimm once more took to the sky looking to continue its reign of terror.

"It seems your friends aren't doing so well right now. Are they?" Cinder was looking at the two in front of her. Pyrrha's face was filled with worry upon seeing the fierce dragon Grimm flying through the air. Jaune, on the other hand, was filled with anger. His face was knit together into a scowl at the possibility of seeing his friend's killed before his eyes.

"Oh and before we start this party. I do believe we should get rid of out unwelcome guests!" Mine and Neo's eyes met as Cinder turned to face the window. A sudden flash came from her hands and the entire window we were standing next to was hit by a fireball. Cinder had clearly spotted us and deemed it necessary to remove us from the equation.

When the fireball hit the window the glass melted instantly as it blew up in an explosion. The entire tower shook and the heat from the blast washed over Neo and I as we held on for dear life. Neither mine nor Neo's grip was strong enough to hold on to the crumbling windowsill and both of us found ourselves falling through the air. A scream erupted from the inside of the tower but was lost to the torrent of wind flying around us.

I desperately reached through the air trying to grab onto anything that would slow my fall. Just as I thought I wouldn't find anything the cool feeling of metal brushed across my hand and I grabbed it using all the strength I could muster. I could feel my arm try it rip itself from my body as I came to a sudden stop holding onto the elevator cable we had used to climb earlier. I looked up toward the tower finding that I had fallen a good sixty feet.

I quickly found Neo who was still holding onto the window sill we had been perched on. I could see her hands slipping as the window continued to crumble. Neo gave a worrying look down at me looking down towards the ground. I gave her a quick wave hoping she would spot me. Neo did and a smile crossed her face.

Neo smile turned to fear as the hold she had failed as the window sill came free. Neo began to tumble through the air uncontrollably through the air. Moving as fast as I could I ran across the side off the building trying to get under Neo. I wasn't going to be able to get under her as her speed picked up as she tumbled towards.

As Neo came falling past me I reached my hand out as quickly as I could hoping to grab her. My luck was in check as my hand wrapped around Neo's umbrella. This time both of my arms were almost ripped off by the sudden force being applied. It didn't matter though all that did was that I caught Neo.

Neo gave me a twinkling smile as she looked up to me. I had my hand wrapped around the top of her umbrella while she dangled below it connected to the handle. Neo reached out for the cable that was below her and grabbed onto it. Once I knew she was secure I let go of her umbrella and began to climb upwards.

Climbing ten feet on a rope was something that a normal person struggled to do. Now replace the rope with a metal cable that dug into your skin when you grabbed it and change the ten feet to sixty. And finally, add in that you're climbing up the side of a three hundred foot tower. That was the situation Neo and I found ourselves in.

The ascent was more difficult the higher I went. Each time I pulled myself a little higher up the building my muscles screamed in pain. Each grasp of the cable became more difficult as it became slick with a blood from a small gash on my hand. It took all I had not to look down to check on Neo. If she'd fallen I wouldn't have known.

Keeping my eyes pointing upward I could hear the sound of metal hitting metal, shields deflecting blows and bodies being hit. From the sound it Pyrrha and Jaune were not doing well. All the climb and chaos we had already experienced was starting to catch up to us. I myself was close to letting go of the cable from sheer in my head told me to keep pushing and so I did.

Not even looking anymore I put one hand over the other. I didn't know if I was moving up down or if I was dead. All I knew was I needed to get to the top of the tower.

Suddenly the sounds of battle become even clearer than before. I wrenched open my eyes looking up and realized I was only a few feet from the ruined window sill.

Pulling myself up I reached out for the jagged edge of the sill trying to grab onto a part that wouldn't fall apart. When my hand did find a hold I clamped down on it with all my strength and hoisted myself up into the room.

Once I was inside I let go of the cable I took a second staring up at ceiling letting air flow through my deprived lungs. Turning to my left I looked out over the remains of Vale watching as the dragon Grimm soared above. Small black dots fell off of it skin with every flap of its wings. Some fell out of view while other were too small to make out what they were. Others were close enough to make and what I saw was horrifying.

From its skin fell large droplets of black blood as dark as death itself. When they hit the ground they splattered onto the ground then quickly formed up into a small pool of black liquid. Once together the liquid began to change growing and shaping itself. Finally, after a few seconds, a new Grimm was formed ready to join its brethren in the already large army inside the city. Even if the huntsman in the city could seal the breaches in the wall how could they stop an enemy that summoned more at will?

Feeling terror in my heart I turned away from the scene and looked to one that was closer. Pyrrha and Jaune were still in combat with Cinder and they were losing. Whatever they tried Cinder countered with something better. When Jaune blocked one of Cinder's arrows and Pyrrha charged Cinder would collapse her bow quickly into two curved glass blades. When Pyrrha or Jaune backed off she would reform her bow and fire away.

Pyrrha and Jaune could do nothing to stop her and with every move, they became more tired. The more tired they became meant more opening for Cinder to take and less opening for Cinder to worry about being attacked through. It was a vicious cycle that would only end one way.

The thought was instantly taken away seeing Neo's gloved hand appear over the side of the window sill. Reaching out for it I grabbed it dragging the small girl inside. Even if I wasn't very big myself I could still help her.

Once inside Neo let out a large silent breath before standing up. At this point Cinder finally noticed us and the fighting stopped. Pyrrha and Jaune about collapsed seeing as the only thing keeping them from collapsing was the fight. Pyrrha held out and arm to Jaune who took it. Leaning on each other they propped themselves up using each other as support.

"Oh, my! Seems little red didn't die like she was supposed to. No matter I will kill you just like these two idiots." Cinder grinned flashing her almost perfect white teeth.

Jaune let go of Pyrrha and lifted his sword up at Cinder pointing the tip at her. Pyrrha tried to do the same but it seemed she had done a large portion of the fighting and in return lost more energy. "We will stop you. If not us then someone else!"

Cinder's grin grew wider as if pleased by Jaunes quick retort. "Oh, you stupid little boy! Even IF you stop me how are you going to stop the Grimm. You could barely hold up against those that breached the walls. What about those that are drawn to the emotions of the city. And don't forget my pet!"

Cinder held her hands out displaying the city in its state of despair. Smoke billowed from building all of the city. Sounds of gunfire echoed through the streets. All while the dragon Grimm flew overhead. "So tell me how my plan has failed!"

This time it was my turn to speak. Standing up from my spot I grabbed Crescent Rose from its holster and used my aura to activate the weapon. Gears inside began to spin as the blade unfolded and the handle deployed. Once it had I slammed it into the ground next to me trying to look intimidating. "Cinder your plan failed the second that she joined us and stopped Roman!"

Using my free hand I pointed over to Neo who mimicked my actions. Using her hand she propped open her umbrella then swung it up letting it lay behind her while resting on her shoulder. A single smile parted her teeth and almost if on cue two flashes of light crossed the sky.

Cinder's face turned to terror as the sound of a giant Grimm echoed through the night sky. It wasn't the defiant roar most gave but the rare roar of a Grimm scared and in pain. Turning to face the source of the noise.

The sight of what I saw at once made feel both joy and sadness at the same time. The dragon Grimm was tumbling through the air as clouds of black smoke began to surround its body. Two large holes were visible one passing through its left wing and the other it chest. Two Atlesian battleships loomed off in the distance with their main cannons pointed at the Grimm.

From what Weiss had told me Atlas used a special type of gun as the main cannon on their ships. The idea is simple but uses a lot of complicated math and science. Basically, the gun charges a large metal rod with huge amounts of electric dust then fires it. The electricity from the dust causes the round to fly farther and faster than most normal cannons. This gives the cannon more power making Grimm easier to kill.

"Oh, you will regret turning against me! I will hurt you worse than roman or the people who sold you ever did!" Cinder was clearly mad as she screamed at Neo. Pulling up her bow a red arrow appeared and she drew it back swiftly and fired.

The arrow streamed toward Neo and I flying with a slight arc downward. Neo quickly swung her still open umbrella up in front of us in the way of the arrow. Not even a second passed before the arrow hit Neo's umbrella and blew up in a ball of crimson red flame. Cinder's attack failed but in its wake, the fire had melted Neos umbrella making it unusable.

Neo's face shifted revealing a frown as she held the ruined weapon in her hand. "Oh by the time I'm done that umbrella will be the least of your worries!" Neo frown turned into anger as she grabbed the umbrella's handle and twisted it. Pulling on the handle she slid free a short slender blade barely a foot long.

Cinder didn't wait for Neo to move as she quickly fired another arrow and at her feet. This time a wall of fire erupted across the room splitting Neo and I off from the other three. "Oh be patient you'll get what's coming. However, I still need to deal with those two!" Cinder laughed turning away from us to face Pyrrha and Jaune.

Cinder took a step toward the two raising her bow in the process. Jaune and Pyrrha reacted instantly raising their own weapons and shields in response. Jaune was the first to move, running straight at Cinder with his sword ready to strike her down. For Cinder, this was a chance to make her own move. In the instant that Jaune took his first step Cinder fired an arrow and prepared the next.

Jaune's training with Pyrrha kicked in as the projectile flew towards him. The first slammed into his shield and the second being sidestepped. By the time Cinder prepared her third shot Jaune was upon her with Pyrrha quickly moving to help him. Cinder acted quickly firing the already notched arrow point blank at Jaune's shield. The force of the arrow pushed Jaune back an inch giving Cinder room to switch to her blades.

Jaune was quickly back after the short blow swinging his sword in an arc at Cinder's head aiming to cut it off at the neck. Two curved swords caught the blade using an x pattern then a swift kick to an open chest sent the attacker back. Pyrrha leaped in as Jaune flew passed her propelled by the force of Cinder's kick. Thrusting her sword miló with a lunge Pyrrha forced Cinder to jump backward in order to dodge the blow.

Pyrrha closed the distance in an instant bashing the raven haired girl with her shield following it up with a slash to her ribs. In a flash of red light, Pyrrha's blade skipped across the other girl's aura dealing little more than a bruise. Taking multiple steps back Pyrrha held up her shield waiting for Cinder to take the next move.

Cinder took the invitation taking a step back herself. Equipping her bow she summoned a red one similar to the one she used on Neo. Pyrrha had backed up to Jaune and instinctively pushed herself into the boy shoving them out of the way. The arrow hit the wall behind them blowing it apart with a small explosion.

Pyrrha and Jaune quickly jumped to their feet at the sound of an arrow whizzing towards them. A shout of pain echoed through the room when the arrow found its target and sunk deeply into Jaunes thigh. Trying to scream Jaune dropped to his the ground holding his limb. "I would try and get that out as quickly as possible if I were you if not you'll start to feel a lot worse!"

True to her words Jaune let out a sharp painful cry as the arrow started to heat up turning a bright orange color. Gripping it with his hand Jaune snapped the arrow arrows shaft so he could pull it free. Grabbing a piece of wood he put it in between his teeth as he wrenched the arrow free. Once it was free Jaune let out a sharp gasp looking down at the wound.

The arrow had passed straight through his femur leaving a nice sized hole. Luckily the arrow hadn't hit his femoral artery and when it had heated up it cauterized his wound. For know, he wouldn't bleed to death but infection would easily set in without proper treatment. Also not to mention he couldn't walk after having an arrow go through his leg.

Cinder let out a deranged laugh as she stood in the middle of the room. "I told you it would hurt didn't I. Just be happy I didn't shoot you in the chest or head." Jaune looked up to Pyrrha from his spot on the floor giving her a nod. "Kick her ass!"

Cinder wasn't ready when Pyrrha launched herself across the room while firing the rounds from miló at her. Cinder barely manage to summon her sword and block the shots keeping them from blowing her brains out. Pyrrha took the distraction as a chance to stab forward with her javelin let ing the blade pass under Cinder's arms. There was no flash as the blade cut through Cinder's aura and into her flesh.

Cinder jumped back pulling the blade from her body allowing blood to spill from the wound. A hiss escaped Cinder's lips as she put her hand over the wound. "You shouldn't have done that you stupid bitch!" lighting her hand up in a small flame she held it up to the wound cauterizing it shut. The smell of burnt flesh flowed through the air giving the fight an even darker aura.

Pyrrha didn't flinch as Cinder charged her swing her sword down at the scarlet hair girl. The two blades stopped above her head as Pyrrha raised her shield to meet their path. Pyrrha stabbed forward with her sword towards Cinder exposed gut. Jumping back cinder escaped the attack while swinger swords across her body catching Pyrrha's shoulder. Two small lines appeared on Pyrrha's shoulder as blood leaked from the wounds. Now both combatants had zero Aura and could only defend themselves with weapons.

In front of us, the firewall Cinder had placed began to die down slowly becoming smaller and cooler. Cinder noticed this and quickly tried to end her fight. Attaching her blades together into a large curved blade she began to swing it wildly at Pyrrha. Each attack became more powerful slamming into miló and Akuó with brutal strength. With a loud yell, Cinder swung the blade across her body in a large arc.

In a desperate attempt, Pyrrha threw akuó up in front of the blade hoping to stop its deadly path. When the blade hit her shield sparks flew across the metal as it tough leather strap gave free and Akuó flew to the ground. With a grunt, Cinder spun her blade slicing upwards towards Pyrrha's chest ready to slice her open. The clash of metal echoed through the room as Pyrrha weakly held up Miló with her remaining strength.

For as invincible Pyrrha was she was still human and made mistakes. Her sword was all that saved her from being cut in half but it didn't stop the blade from hitting her. Cinder's dark blade caught Pyrrha just in her shoulder slicing through skin armor and bone like a cleaver. Blood poured from the wound as Pyrrha let out a cry dropping her sword to the ground with a metallic clang that echoed through the office.

Jaune shot forward from his spot on the ground struggling to grab Pyrrha without collapsing himself. "Oh god Pyrrha! Hey, are you ok?...Pyrrha!... no no no no no no! Stay with me!" Jaune kept shouting at Pyrrha as he tore off his chest piece than his sweatshirt and pushed it down on the wound trying to stop the blood. Pyrrha looked up at Jaune with a small thin small on her lips. Instinctively Jaune reached out and took Pyrrha hands holding it tightly.

The sound of an arrow being notched was heard as Cinder drew back her bow taking aim at the Pyrrha. "I'm sorry to ruin your little….moment of affection. But I really would like to kill you both now!" Jaune looked down away from Cinder and locked gazes with Pyrrha's emerald eyes. As small "I'm sorry" slipped from her lips as Cinder let the arrow go.

Trying to move as fast as I could I jumped through the fire running straight through it. The flames licked at my entire body trying to ignite anything it could. My aura held against the fire not letting it do anything but make me feel a little hot. The world around me slowed as my semblance kicked in. I could see everything I needed to but it wouldn't matter. The arrow was heading straight for Pyrrha's chest and it wasn't going to miss.

Using my semblance I did the only thing I could. I ran into the arrow's path.

I could feel the warm metal pierce my skin as I stepped in its path right in front of Pyrrha and Jaune. The second I felt it cut into me I let my semblance stop and the world resume to its normal speed. The arrow cut deep into my abdomen. Pain flared as it heated up turning the bright orange color just like before. The only thing I heard in the entire room was one word.

"Ruby!

It was so small and gentle. It was filled with so much emotion as if the person was scared to even speak. I turned my eyes to face the source expecting to find someone had joined us atop the tower. No Instead the person I was looking at was none other than the small girl who had her voice stolen.

Tears rolled down Neo's face as she cried out a silent sob. I turned my gaze toward the arrow looking at it. The pain had dulled down to nothing and I could see the reason why. The arrow was glowing a bright white color and was burning away my flesh. I could see the muscles and what might have been a bone as I gripped the arrow and pulled it out of my skin. In an instant, the pain returned to me as I cried out feeling all the damage I'd received.

I fell down to my knees holding my wound gasping in pain. Each breath only brought on more pain make me take short shallow breaths. I looked up to Cinder who was still shocked that I had jumped in front of the arrow meant to end Pyrrha and Jaune.

Cinder for the last time notched another arrow and pointed it at me. WHY MUST YOU KEEP GETTING IN MY WAY. IF YOU HADN'T BEEN ON THAT SHIP. IF YOU HADN'T BEEN IN THE VAULT. IF YOU WEREN'T HERE I WOULD ALREADY HAVE WON….YOU JUST HAVE TO BE THE HERO OF THE STORY DON'T YOU…..WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING LITTLE RED….HEROS DIE AND BAD GUYS WIN! HOW'S THAT FOR A STORY!"

Each word Cinder shouted came out filled with rage and frustration. It was true I was the one thing that had disrupted her entire plan. I was the reason she was losing. I was the thing that needed to be eliminated. "GOODBYE RED!" With her final words, Cinder pulled back the arrow ready to fire. She would have killed me if it wasn't for the other person who kept getting in her way.

Neo ran across the room running faster than almost anyone could without the use of a semblance. She ran right into Cinder's side stabbing her long blade into it. Neo didn't stop there she grabbed onto her and kept running. Filled with strength only Yang could beat. Pushing her Neo shoved Cinder into the wall next to where she had blown it open trying to kill Jaune and Pyrrha.

The force of Cinder hitting the barely standing wall caused it to collapse into pieces or concrete tumbling down the side of the building. Without the wall to stop her Cinder fell off the tower with a loud scream.I couldn't imagine what it would've been like to fall to your death but it didn't seem pleasant.

Trying to move I stood up gasping sharply at the sudden pain that flared from my chest. In a second a body was under my shoulder helping me stand. I looked down and stared straight into Neo's brown and pink eyes. With a single blink, the colors switched places then back with another.

I turned with Neo's help to face Jaune and Pyrrha who were still on the floor. Pyrrha was pale but the pressure Jaune had on her wound was slowing down the bleeding enough so she wasn't at the point of bleeding out. Jaune was beaten up just like Pyrrha flinching in pain every time he slightly moves his leg. He still kept pushing down on the wound keeping pressure on it.

Pyrrha's soft voice cracked as she spoke making it clear how tired she was. "Thank you, Ruby. If you hadn't… stepped in front of that arrow….I don't know what I could've done!"

I gave Pyrrha a big small hoping I could cheer her up and make it seem like I wasn't in as much pain as I was. "It was nothing. I mean I couldn't let Cinder kill you! If I did I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself."

Pyrrha let out a weak chuckle trying to mimic the purpose of my grin. "Just hang in there me and Neo will try and contact Goodwitch. Hopefully, she'll be able to help us." Leaving Jaune and Pyrrha Neo helped me walk over to where Cinder had blown away the window.

"Thank you, Neo! I mean it, we would've lost if you didn't help us. A lot more people would've been hurt!" I looked down to the girl who had a bright gleam in her eyes and a smile on her face. Pulling out her phone she typed quickly and proficiently.

Thank you, Ruby. If you hadn't shown up on that ship I would never have tried to go against Roman and Cinder. I was too afraid but when I saw you on the monitors running through the halls it filled me with hope. Then when you accepted me even after I told you all the terrible thing I'd done it made me feel something I'd never felt. When I saw Cinder hurt you it scared me. There's something about you that make me want to fight. Makes me want to speak! I just want to thank you for that.

Reading Neo's message made me want to cry. She was a girl who's been denied a normal life without a choice. She stood up against some of the most ruthless criminals in history and she was thanking me. I didn't know how to respond but to wrap her up in a hug.

Neo seemed like she was going to pull away but after a second she gave in and accepted the embrace. I think for her it was the first hug she had in a very long time. As we held each other Neo's grip tightened too much and I let out a sharp cry of pain. Neo jumped back almost letting me fall but stayed under me. Her eyes apologized but I held up a hand telling her I was ok.

"I'm fine you just squeezed me a little too hard….Quick question can I borrow your scroll I need to call Glynda and I think I dropped mine when Cinder blew up the window." Neo let out a silent sigh as she handed me her scroll. Nodding a quick thank you I clicked on the call button and typed in Glynda's number. Holding it up to my ear I thought as I waited for an answer.

How the hell do I tell Glynda that we beat Cinder and need help?

 **Please leave any comments or questions you have. I will try and answer the question if you guys have ny that way the story will be clearer. Thank!**


	3. Déjà vu

**So I know it's been a while since I posted but the past few weeks have been pretty hectic. I had writer's block, a death in the family, then I left the state for a trip. Just a bunch of stuff. I apologize but hopefully I can make up for it and get back to writing. So please enjoy and if you can leave a review so I can try and improve the story**

I have no idea if you've ever experienced déjá vu but currently, I was being sucker punched by it. I was sitting in a room identical to the one Ozpin and Glynda had brought me in after my first fight with Torchwick. This time I was alone in the room with Ozpin who was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the small table I was seated at.

Ozpin had brought me in here after I'd spent ours being poked by doctors and having the wound Cinder gave me wrapped and cleaned. Pyrrha and Jaune were both put into surgery for their injuries. Jaune needed to have his femur fixed so that his aura could heal it properly. Pyrrha was rushed into the ICU when we arrived at Vale General requiring an immediate blood transfusion.

All in all the hospital was in a state of organized chaos. None of the staff stood still long enough to catch their breath before a new patient needed help or a current patient shouted in pain. None of the hospitals had been prepared for such a large number of injuries. I was lucky enough to be pushed into an empty room and let be while more and more people came inside.

After a few hours, a doctor came into the room asking how I was feeling. He seemed nice but I could tell he wasn't really trying to talk to me. He was going through the motions he had done or the dozen other patients he'd seen in just that last hour. Knowing he was tired I gave a simple nod to answer his question.

The doctor handed me a form and pen asking me to sign. "I see no point in needing to keep you here any longer. Your wound will heal quickly thanks to you Aura. I've been asked by one of your Professors to tell you you've instructed to head back to Beacon. An airship is waiting for you. If you would please sign those papers you can be released!"

The doctor nodded at the papers and after I gave them a quick look I signed. The doctor took the papers also signing it. "Thank you, Miss Rose you may leave! Also, your equipment is at the security booth waiting to be collected!" Not waiting for a response the doctor left the room leaving me alone.

Taking a minute I relaxed trying to figure out what the Professors wanted me for. After thinking for a bit I figured it was to talk about what had happened and maybe about Neo. I hadn't seen her since the Vale police arrested her at the tower. I tried to convince Glynda not to but it was futile. She'd done terrible things even if against her will and couldn't be trusted. Or at least not yet.

Jumping off the bed I stepped into the hallway immediately dodging a nurse running past me. Slipping past groups of injured and nurses. Some of the wounds people had received where viscous. One girl had a large gash running down the side of her head while a little boy had his chest wrapped in a bloody bandage. No one was ready for such an attack and many had been injured.

Once I got out of the emergency room area I started my way heading toward the main entrance. Hopefully, I would find the security booth or at least someone who could help me. Every few seconds a different doctor or nurse would rush past me running to a different wing of the hospital. At one point I was almost knocked over by a group pushing a hospital gurney. The boy on the stretcher I recognized as one of the students from Beacon. He was a year older and I believe he'd been friends with Fox from team CFVY.

After another minute of dodging people and trying to to get run over, I pushed through a set of white double doors stepping into the main atrium. Groups of people sat around the entire part of the atrium. Right next to the door was a long desk with nurses and receptionist talking to a long line of people. The sight of all the families broke my heart. Mothers were in tears while fathers held their wives. Kids looked around worried trying to figure out where they were.

A deep urge inside me itched me to help them. To ensure them that everything would be ok. I myself didn't even know if that was true. I hadn't seen the destruction of the city so what could I say.

Pushing through the large crowd I made my way over to a large boxed in a room with a single glass pane that could slide open. It was sitting right in front of the main entrance and I took the guess this was the security booth. Walking up to the booth I knocked on the pane startling the security guard inside.

I gave the guard a smile trying to calm them down. When she looked at me she had a hand on her chest. "Sorry, to disturb you I'm Ruby Rose…. And umm the doctor said I could get my weapon back from the security booth!"

The woman raised an eyebrow at me and started flipping through a stack of papers. Her eyes stopped and almost grew twice as large after she stopped flipping through the pages. Her eyes moved back and forth reading the page before settling back on me. "You're Ruby Rose? The huntress from Beacon. How can someone as cute as you kill monsters for a living?"

It didn't take long to figure out the answer. Most people had the same reaction when they learned I was a hunter. "Yes that's me and to be clear I'm still in training." The guard nodded in response before turning in her chair and standing up and moving out of sight. The sound of boxes being moved and things echoed through the booth and some of the people in the crowd looked up trying to find the source of the commotion.

After a few seconds, I heard the guard say something to muffled to understand before she returned with a box in her hands. "Sorry a lot of other hunters came into the hospital and I got stuck with all their gear!" A gave a polite nod waiting for her to open the box. The guard noticed my anticipation and popped the top off handing me Crescent Rose.

I almost ripped the weapon from her hands trying to take back my baby. Not caring that everyone was staring I started going over my weapon checking every inch of it. The only thing I didn't do was unfold it to its full length. If I did I could have gotten in trouble. After a minute of doing that I stopped and looked up to the guard who had a puzzled look on her face. "Oh sorry, I just feel kinda naked without my weapon!"

The guard didn't answer but gave a quick nod trying to understand what I'd said. She put the lid back on the box and tossed it behind her before she took her seat. Waving my hand I said goodbye and walked out the door into the cool morning air.

I hadn't taken five steps before a sleek black car rolled up in front of me and a large bald man in a black suit with a patch on the shoulder displaying Beacon's symbol of two axes crossed. stepped out. "Miss Rose we're here to take you to the heliport!" The man had a deep intimidating voice and stood tall showing off how strong he was. I stepped forward and the man held open the door for me. I stepped forward putting one foot into the car taking a seat.

I could tell the car was quite luxurious when I stepped in and took a seat on the soft black leather. Between the driver and I was a large black mirror cutting us off from each other. The windows were tinted black and I knew no one could see me from the outside.

Once I was seated and clicked my seatbelt into place the tall man slammed the door shut and walked around the car taking the passengers seat in the front. Once he was situated the car was turned on and hummed to life. After a second or two the driver pulled out from in front of the hospital and turned onto the main road.

The trip wasn't long but instead was very intimidating. The trip took us through the city passing the chaos that had ensued just a few hours before. Teams of police and fireman still worked to clear debris and to stop fires still roaring with life. At one point we had to stop while a team of police officers moved a large chunk of concrete that was still laying in the middle of the only clear lane.

Once we had made it out of the upper end of the city it was a short drive no more than half a mile to the heliport. Once we were less than a minute out the tall man rolled down the divider and turned to talk to me. "Miss Rose once we make it to the heliport a new guard will escort you the rest of the way to Beacon!"

Right after he finished the man turned back and flicked a button sliding the divider shut leaving me more confused. Why all the secrecy? Other than stopping Cinder I didn't know anything more about the attack. I could have answered all that happened in a report! What could they want with me?

Before I could try and answer my own question the car came to a stop. I would have been thrown into the divider if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Clicking the button the seatbelt slid free and I reached to open the door. Just as I reached it the door opened and I fell forward onto the seat letting out a loud "Oomph"

I looked up to the man who'd opened it and saw it wasn't the tall man from before but a smaller more stocky one in the same suit. This man was only about three inches taller than me but had twenty times the muscle mass. He almost seemed ready to pop out of his suit. Held out his hand and I took it acceptingly as he helped me up with a gentle touch. For such a strong looking man he knew how to be gentle.

Clearing my throat I said a quick thank you while fixing my skirt and checking to make sure Crescent Rose was still in my holster. The man nodded and motioned toward a heliport. "Miss Rose I will be accompanying you to Beacon if you have any questions feel free to ask. I might as well add there are some things I can't answer. This includes why you're being escorted back. The reason being I myself do not know!"

I gave a grumbling nod to him, upset that I couldn't have the only question I had be answered. Feeling upset I followed the man to the small airship he had pointed out and stepped into it. The airship was quite small compared to others only about twenty feet long. The entire ship was a single cabin with only a small wall separating me from the pilot. This time my escort sat with me in the cabin instead of in the front.

Once we had seated ourselves in a chair and bulked ourselves in my escort shouted up to the pilot saying we were ready to go. I couldn't hear what he said because it was too muffled but I knew it was something about preparing to lift off. I felt the engines roar to life and the smell of fire dust burning wafted through the cabin before disappearing as quickly as it had come.

With the engines roaring the airship lifted about fifty feet into the air clearing where it had been docked before shooting off forward heading for Beacon. I myself had been on many commercial airships but a private one was much calmer and smoother. I looked out the window and my heart dropped once again at the sight of the city.

Grey smoke flowed up from the city casting it in a dark gloom. Once grand building had been reduced to rubble and streets laid strewn with destroyed vehicles and debris! I looked away from the city looking out to the Emerald Forest to where my team had first worked together.

A pang of guilt formed in my stomach on remembering them. I'd left the three of them to hold of the Grimm while Neo, Pyrrha, Jaune and I went to stop Cinder. I'd left them and right know I had no idea if they were alive or injured. Even worse would be if I sent them to their deaths. What leader could do such a thing!

Shaking the thought from my mind I had to remember just who my team was. They were one of the best teams in Beacon. Weiss was smart and could hold her own against almost any opponent. Blake was sneaky and always figured out something's weak points and used it to her advantage. Yang was super strong and could stand up to almost any challenge thrown at her.

I cracked a smile thinking about all the things we'd done together. First Blake and I stopped the White Fang from stealing an entire shipment of dust. Then we all went to Mnt. Glenn and stopped the White Fang from blowing up a hole in the city wall with a train. Well we did enough to stop them from doing too much damage.

As the leader of team RWBY, I needed to believe in my team. The worse thing I could do as a leader was not believe in my team. I had to believe in them so that they could believe in themselves. We are a team and we needed to work together to do our job and protect others.

The thoughts of my team were shaken from my mind as the airship started to rapidly drop. The forest quickly grew in size as our altitude dropped. Trees swayed underneath us as the airships powerful engines pounded the trees with warm air. Small birds fluttered from the trees and herds of deer ran through the forest trying to get as much distance between them and this unknown object. A quick flash of black caught my attention making me look closer at the source.

After a few seconds of gazing, I caught another flash of black and this time I kept my eyes on the source. A large Ursa was running through the forest clearly running from something. Just as the Ursa began to disappear from sight the flash of a large rifle being shot flashed from a tree a few hundred feet away from the Ursa. I couldn't see what the round did but I could tell that it killed the beast. A small cloud of black smoke rose up through the tree's canopy and began to dissipate in the wind. It was a clear sign that the Ursa had been eliminated.

It was good to know that what I assumed where the Hunters Vale had brought in were out hunting the remaining Grimm still close by. The most dangerous time after a city is attacked is within the next two days. This is when everyone's negative emotions began to stir up and lure Grimm from all around. Then they would attack and another fight would occur and follow that more negative emotions and more Grimm. It was a vicious cycle that ended in one of three ways. First, the city is able to defend off the Grimm long enough that all nearby Grimm are killed. Second, the Grimm wipe out the city. The last was the residents of the city try to flee. Most of the time it ended with the second or third option.

While I was lost in thought about the city the airship speed dropped and slowed down as we came up to the cliff side that ran along Beacons border. Once we had slowed down enough the ship's engines adjust and we began to descend towards one of the many landing pads. My escort nudged my shoulder shaking me from my thoughts. "Miss Rose we are here. Once we exit the airship I will escort you the rest of the way!"

I didn't really know how to respond with anything other than a nervous nod. I never liked walking into situations I had no Idea about but right now it seemed like that's all that happened to me. At first, the new situations where ok, like when I fought Torchwick and got into Beacon but slowly after that, they became more dangerous and more confusing. I wish I could just go back to being with my team and train to become a huntress. Right now that wasn't an option and I needed to do what was asked of me.

Stepping off the airship I quickly ran to catch up to my escort surprised by his swiftness for such a stocky man. As we walked through the campus I couldn't help but meet the eyes of some students. Many were filled with guilt and worry while others still had an alertness to them. I shouldn't have been surprised to see them in that state. Most of us had fought Grimm before but none had needed to save the city from a swarm of Grimm.

When we passed by the CCT tower I was surprised to find workers quickly repairing the damage that cinder had done. The courtyard still had large chunks of the window lying in the grass after it had been blown to bits. When I looked up I swore I could still see the elevator cable dangling from Ozpin's office. The sight made me think back to the fight and how it ended. Neo had stabbed Cinder with her sword and pushed her out the window. Knowing the damage she had taken it would have been a miracle on steroids if she survived.

Lost in my thoughts once again I almost ran into my escort when he abruptly stopped in front of a set of doors. Slamming on my heels it took me everything I had to stop barely in and away from his back. Even with all the sound I made he never moved o look at me but stared forward at the door. Raising his large hand he rapped on the door and waited for a response. A small hatch slid open and looked at the man before sliding shut.

The door swung open and I followed the man inside down a brightly lit hallway. Dozens of guards walked along the hallway swerving around us. Many of them gave me strange looks while other hid their gaze behind black sunglasses. The most intimidating of them all was a female not much taller than me wearing the same black suit as the others. She light red hair cut short and tucked behind her ears. A large scar ran along her cheek standing out against her flawless skin. The most intimidating part was she was flipping a butterfly knife around in her hand. Each movement of the knife was flawless with the blade barely missing her skin.

My escort paid no attention to any of them as he continued down the hallway turning with it whenever we reached an intersection. I quickly lost count of all the turns we made and gave up on learning the way out of the building. After another minute of walking the man stopped almost as quickly as last time. I was ready and stopped keeping the same distance I had when following.

He reached out and grabbed the handle to the door he'd stopped in front of and pulled the door open while stepping to the side so I could step inside. I walked into the room and was surprised to find it was identical to the one Glynda had brought me to the night I fought Torchwick.

The room was simple just like I remembered it. It was not very big maybe ten by twenty feet. In the middle of the room was a square metal table with two identical metal chairs on opposite sides. I walked over to the one on the far side of the room and took a seat in it. The walls were painted a tan so that the bright fluorescent lights didn't reflect off the walls. Across from me, the wall was split in two with a one-way mirror covering the top part. Looking up to the corner I saw the camera with a red light pointed right at me. "Great they're filming me," I thought.

A quick cough caught my attention and I turned to face my escort who was standing in the doorway. "Miss Rose Professor Goodwitch will be here shortly. If you would be so kind as to wait patiently I would appreciate it." The man didn't wait for me to answer and closed the door and locked it with an audible click.

I shrunk down in my chair pulling my cloak around me trying to hide away inside its warmth. I always felt calmer when I wrapped myself up in my cloak. It always reminded me of the few faint memories of my mother. The warmth of my body coaxed my eyes shut as the hours of the past day caught up with me. Even in the uncomfortable chair I was in I still felt comfortable.

I don't know how much time passed but it was clearly longer than I'd been told. The door to the room opened quietly and I was only awoken by the sudden screeching of a metal chair being pulled across the cold concrete floor. I snapped up in the chair trying to shake the grogginess out of my bones. When I opened my eyes I was meet with the bright flash of the room's lights.

"Miss Rose how are you feeling!" My eyes took a while to readjust to the light but I knew the source of the clear spoken voice. The sound of a liquid being sipped and the distinct smell of coffee did nothing to dissuade the man's identity. When my eyes finally finished adjusting I looked into the silver eyes of the man sitting in front of me.

It took some time to summon my voice and what came out was choppy and filled it nervousness. "O….Ozpin. I thou...thought you…!" I let my voice die of whilst trying to keep the tears from filling my eyes. In the events of the night before I'd thought Ozpin had fallen to Cinder and that was why we needed to beat her ourselves.

"Yes I know Miss Rose but as you can see I survived. I also must apologize for forcing you to handle Cinder. It was my fault for not realizing she lead me into a trap and dropped a building on me. Vale owes you and the rest of your team a great deal for ending Cinder's tyranny!" Each word was spoken clearly using years of wisdom to emphasize the message he sent across.

When I looked at the headmaster I was surprised to find he was not in his usual cleanly dressed state Ozpin usually wore a black suit and vest with a green shirt, dark green pants and his spectacles. Sitting in front of me he was wearing his usual green shirt and vest but had no suit jacket. The pin he usually wore was missing alongside his spectacles. The most offsetting thing was the wear and tear his outfit had taken. Dust still lingered on his clothes and clearly, he had tried to remove it. "Miss Rose please do not look so scared. I have received no injuries other than to my clothing. The person I'm more worried about is you! Please tell me how you feel!"

"I'm ok but a little tired and hungry!" When I shifted in my seat I winced slightly as pain sparked from my side. Aura helped to heal but didn't do much for pain. "I do hope when we are done you go and get some rest and food. The cafeteria has been opened for the students still at the school. However, the question I asked was not meant for that answer. I asked how you feel emotionally not physically."

I looked at the headmaster and felt my stomach drop and started to recede back into the safety of my cloak. "I'm alright just trying to..process what happened!" Feeling powerless was something I'd never felt before and last night had shown just that. I spent the last five years learning to fight and it was nothing. "I'm...scared….I didn't know what to do...it felt like a bad dream that I couldn't wake up from...So much destruction and for what? I...failed….I left my team...I left Yang ...and I don't even know what...happened to them. I...just….."

At this point, I couldn't speak anymore. The dam had burst and every emotion I had bottled up flowed through me. Fear, pain, sadness, anger. If the Grimm were nearby I would have made one of the biggest targets in all of Remnant.

Ozpin's eyes did not look away once during my entire breakdown. He took in the sight of one of his students who was a battle trained warrior reduced a small fragile child trying to understand the cruelty of life. No teacher ever wanted to have this happen to one of their students but at the same time it was his student and he was responsible. The only way he could take responsibility was to prepare for the future in hopes he could prevent this from happening ever again.

Time slipped by as sobbed and cried uncontrollably slowly tiring myself out till the sobs subsided, tears no longer fell and my breathing returned to normal. More time passed before Ozpin shifted in his chair and spoke with a smooth more warm-hearted tone. "Miss Rose I understand that what happened is something no person wishes to endeavor but we need to know what happened when you got onto the Atlesian battleship and then when you returned to Beacon!"

Lifting myself I shifted my position so that I was no longer curled up in a ball inside my cloak. I brought my sleeve up to my face and wiped away some of the remaining tears still on my face before looking up to Ozpin. "I..I don't r-really know where to start."

"Please start with when you got on the ship. We need to know what happened so that it doesn't need to happen ever again"

Wiping away as a tear rolled down my face I looked straight into Ozpin's eyes the way he had done to me when he had first entered the room. "When I got o-on the airship it was empty. I don't really know much about running a battleship but I knew something was wrong. I followed signs and ran towards the bridge hoping to find someone still alive. As I got closer I began to notice...blood on the walls and floor. The closer I got the more there was till I got outside the bridge where the crew had set up a barricade. Someone had killed all of them and left the...sitting there. When I stepped inside that was when I saw Neo with her sword up to Roman's throat."

"This is the Neo also know as Neopolitan that your team has run into in the past. I believe she was the one who almost killed your sister while on the train. Why would Roman's most trusted henchman turn against him?"

"We..well she told me..or at least typed to me that she was a slave and she was forced to do everything without a choice. I arrived just after she was able to remove the device that controlled her and she turned on Roman. I..I didn't believe her at first but he kept pleading to her that she could stop and he would let her go. Instead she...killed him!"

"Miss Rose you mean to tell me that Roman gave Neo the chance to walk away and she instead chose to kill him and help you. Why?"

Taking in a deep breathe I thought back to what happened after Roman died. "I didn't trust Neo at first especially after seeing her kill someone, but she wanted to help, I..I could see it in her eyes. The thing that made me trust her was when she revealed Cinder's entire plan for the attack. She was the one responsible for sending the message giving the location of where the Grimm breaches where. She was also the one who stopped Roman from uploading a virus that would've turned the Atlas robots against us."

"I will say that message was a great aid in the fight but how can we believe that she is on our side. So if you would please continue your story."

"Neo and I used an airship to get back to Beacon and we ran into my team. Yang was instantly distrusting of Neo and even hit her. Neo could've moved but she took the punch...for Yang that meant she was sorry...no one is crazy enough to stand in the way of her punch without trying to move out of the way, but Neo did." I finished talking feeling a flash of heat run across my face. The sudden increase of heat made my face turn a bright red similar to the color of my cloak.

Looking back at Ozpin I continued my story shaking trying not to think about my sudden embarrassment. "After that, I asked them if they'd seen Pyrrha or Jaune and they told me they went to the CCT tower. We decided it was best if Weiss, Blake, and Yang held off the Grimm while Neo and I tried to find Pyrrha. When we got to the tower the elevator had been broken and so we followed the destruction to the lower levels where we ran into you, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Cinder!" The sound of my voice gave the clear telling of hatred I had for Cinder when I said her name as it came out closer to a hiss then a name.

"Yes, and so from their, you helped to keep Cinder from harming Miss Nikos and Mister Arc. I must thank you for that if Cinder managed to do what she wanted it would have ended very badly!" Ozpin set down his coffee after he took a sip and leaned back into his chair.

"O-Ozpin? What were you doing down there? I...I mean what was that machine and what does it have to do with Pyrrha." Ozpin sat up in his seat and looked at with me forcing our gazes to meet. His eyes had a stern unsettling look to them, unlike the intense but gentle look he had earlier. "Miss Rose what we were doing down there is something that almost none know about. Please understand that in due time it will be explained, but for now, we must keep its secret safe. This is situation will decide Remnants entire future!"

I could only stare blankly at Ozpin as he returned to his relaxed position while bringing his coffee mug to his lips. His answer only gave me more questions and made me more confused. However how his character shifted and tone changed made it clear this was no laughing matter. "Miss Rose if you would, please continue from after you left the vault." Ozpin tone returned to his clear-cut form making me feel calmer.

"After you ran off fighting Cinder, Neo and I went to help Jaune get Pyrrha out of the machine like you asked us to. Both Jaune and Pyrrha were pretty anxious around Neo especially after hearing what she had done before this, but after a bit of talking, they decided to trust her. After that we went up the elevator back to the main floor, An explosion shook the tower and we guessed it was Neo so we went up the stairs to find her." I looked up from the table expecting Ozpin to ask me a question. Instead, he was sitting with his mug up to his lips. With a single hand motion, he gestured for me to go on.

"W..well we ran up to the second to last floor using the stairs and took a break before we confronted Cinder. The four of us decided to split up so that we could catch Cinder by surprise. Pyrrha and Jaune would climb up through the elevator shaft while Neo and I climbed the side of the building and broke through the window."

Ozpin quickly sat forward in his seat in one swift movement. I jumped back in surprise almost falling out of my chair at Ozpin's sudden movement. Ozpin eyes shone with a sense of brief surprise and a hint of anger before they shifted back to their usual mechanical like shine. After a few seconds, he sat back in his chair before looking back at me. "I must apologize, Miss Rose, I didn't mean to startle you but I was just sent something very…..unsettling. If you would please continue!"

I was still surprised by Ozpin sudden reaction, I'd never seen him react like this and it was very unsettling. After a few seconds of sitting there, Ozpin motioned at me with his mug, shaking me from my stupor. After blinking a few times I thought trying to remember what I'd been talking about.

"Oh uh...well, Neo and I used the elevator cable to climb the building up to the window. When we got to the window we looked in and waited for Pyrrha and Jaune to give us a signal. When they entered the room Cinder was waiting for them but didn't attack, she tried to convince the to give up but they wouldn't. Cinder then said something about a backup plan and that was when the dragon Grimm broke out of the mountain. After that Cinder threw a fireball at the window trying to kill Neo and me.

"Miss Rose if I could I do have a quick question!" I gave a quick nod to Ozpin before he continued. "What did Cinder say to Pyrrha and Jaune." I took a second trying to recall what Cinder had said but when I thought it was a little fuzzy. "I can't really remember but it was something about fight both the Grimm and Atlas robots."

Ozpin sighed and sat back in his chair clearly relieved by my response. "That's alright. I was just wondering if Cinder said anything of importance to Miss Nikos or Mr. Arc. Seeing as she didn't it isn't an issue anymore, so please continue on!"

"Well when Cinder threw the fireball it blew up the window and threw Neo and I off the building. I don't know how but I was able to grab the cable and Neo before we fell too far. When we got back up top Cinder was fighting Pyrrha and Jaune and she was of them had the power to stand up to her and every time they tried to hurt her they ended up being the ones hurt."

"Miss Rose I'm guessing this is how Miss Nikos and Mr. Arc received their wounds. Am I correct?" I shook my head up and down remembering how badly Jaune and Pyrrha had been hurt. Jaune leg would heal with time but the amount of blood Pyrrha lost was terrifying. I tried to away the sight of Pyrrha's injury only make it more intense. The only thing that brought me back was a sudden cough from Ozpin.

When I looked back at the headmaster I could feel my tears falling down my face. Each time one fell it left a new path on my face for the others to follow. I used the sleeve of my cloak to quickly wipe the tears away before returning to the story.

"During the fight Cinder separated us using a wall of fire. Pyrrha and Jaune fought as hard as they could but she was too strong for them. Jaune ended up taking an arrow through his leg and Pyrrha….she got hurt to….Cinder was going to..kill them and I couldn't let that happen...they're my friends and ...I just wanted to keep them safe...so I did the only thing I could. I ran into the path of the arrow."

"I will say that was a very noble thing you did Miss Rose however at the same time it was also very stupid. In life, there are things we must protect however there are things we need to let go. This is a lesson we must all learn."

"Ozpin are...are you saying...I should have let Cinder...Kill them…?" At this point, the tears couldn't be stopped no matter how many times I tried to wipe them away.

"Ruby that was not what I meant. I was trying to say sometimes you can't save everyone and that is something we must learn. Last night we lost a great many people but thanks to you we didn't lose two very important fighters. I'm sorry if that came out the wrong way." When Ozpin said my first name it made me feel calm. Each word he spoke felt like I was being wrapped in a warm blanket till my tears stopped flowing. "Ruby if you would please continue!"

"W-well I jumped into the path of the arrow and it caught cinder by surprise. She was really upset and started yelling at me. Then she pulled back and got ready to...kill me but that was when Neo jumped in. She stabbed her and pushed her out the window...After that, all I remember is calling Professor Goodwitch then passing out. After that, I woke up in the hospital."

"Thank you, Miss Rose, for clearing up what happened...there have been some problems and I'd hoped if we got the full story then it would clear up some of our questions. Instead, I believe we've opened up a whole new book."

"What do you mean...I don't understand. We defeated Cinder how can there be more questions?"

"Miss rose a lot of things happened last night. Things were put in motion that we don't have any understanding of. The biggest mystery at this point is what happened to Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick."

"What do you mean...They died last night...I saw it!" I became increasingly flustered at this point. Nothing Ozpin was saying made sense and only confused me more.

"Miss Rose I cannot tell you everything at this time but do know I wish to tell you more. For now, you'll have to wait till I can tell you everything." I felt my mind go into overload trying to understand what Ozpin was saying. What couldn't he tell me and why? Each time I thought about it, my head hurt even more. Eventually, I just gave up on it all it did was make my mind hurt and it just made me more confused.

"Miss Rose there is a few more things we need to discuss. The first of these is Neopolitan." the sudden mention of her brought me back to reality and made me full of sadness. I hadn't seen Neo since last night and I could only think of what happened to her.

"Ruby, you're the closest person to Neapolitan and we believe you can answer some of the questions we have. The first of these is why she refuses to respond to our questions."

I looked back at Ozpin confused by what he meant before realizing he didn't know. "Ozpin y-you do know she can't talk….She uses her scroll to speak." Ozpin shook his head not in understanding but in anger. "Yes we know this but even after we gave her a scroll to use she only responded with one thing. She would only talk to you."

I was shocked at what Ozpin said. Why would Neo only speak to me? I'd barely known her more than a few hours, yet something inside me was relieved she wanted to talk to me. "Ozpin c-can I talk to her...I mean if I'm the only one she will speak to...t-then shouldn't I." My face heated up and I could only guess how red it was. When I felt the heat in my face rise it caused me to become even more embarrassed making my face heat up more. It was an endless cycle that I didn't want to go through.

A sudden cough shook me from my mind and back into the real world. Ozpin face was still layered with his usual poker face. "Miss Rose before you talk to her there is somethings that I must tell you first. Things that may upset you just like it did to me." Every ounce of color drained from my face and my feeling of embarrassment was replaced with fear. All I could muster in response was a shaky nod motioning for Ozpin to show me.

"When we brought Neopolitan in we had doctors do full medical checks. What we found out was very disturbing and shows what Neopolitan has endured." Ozpin touched his scroll and pulled up a file on its screen. With a single motion, Ozpin slid the scroll across the table to me. "The first thing the doctors found where a large amount of scars. Covering much of her body."

When I looked at the file I scrolled down stopping at a picture showing Neo's back. Dozens of small white lines coated her skin crisscrossing over one another. Most ranged from an inch or two to almost a foot in length. I kept scroll through the pictures finding more and more scars, each getting worse. The most brutal was a pink scar running from her ankle to halfway up her thigh. "H-how did she get these?"

I could barely get my question out without screaming in anger. These were wounds that were not received on accident. Someone gave them to her. "The doctors said that some of her wounds were received while fighting while others...They show signs of abuse and torture."

"SO THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE HER LOCKED UP! IF SHE'S BEEN TORTURED BY THEM WHY WOULD SHE STILL WORK FOR THEM." Ozpin didn't even flinch as I shot up from my chair knocking it down to the ground with a loud clang that echoed through the room. The sounds of feet rushing outside the door prepared to enter the room at the sudden loud disturbance. The only thing that stopped the guards from kicking the door down was a motion from Ozpin saying it was ok.

"Miss Rose, I understand you're upset but please remember the city was just attacked by a horde of Grimm and a group of terrorists. We cannot afford to let Neopolitan simply walk free. So If you would please take a seat, there's still more information I need to tell you."

Angrily I snatched the chair up from the ground placing it back where it was before. Taking my seat it took all I had not to flip the table in front of me, even if it was bolted to the ground. "Miss Rose other than the wounds we found there is still something else we must talk about." I looked up to Ozpin knowing very well how hate filled my eyes where.

"When Neopolitan was being checked over we took blood samples for testing. I only got the results a few minutes ago, that was the reason for my sudden...agitation." It now made sense why Ozpin had been upset after looking at his scroll. If Ozpin got this upset then how would I react? "The blood test revealed a chemical in her blood called black blood. Most know almost nothing about it, but for those who do...fear it!"

"W-what is it?" I could only ponder what "black blood" was. If it struck so much fear into someone what the hell did it do?

Ozpin sat forward in his chair holding his scroll up to me. On it was a picture of a small vial of black liquid. "Black blood is a chemical made using the blood of Grimm, fire dust, and ice dust. Its main use is in...torture and assassination. When placed into the bloodstream it can linger for years. Its power comes in that it can be activated with a simple aura touch to the person's body. When activated the Grimm's blood acts as a catalyst to the ice and dust they…"

"Activate the dust causing a feeling of intense pain as your body burns and freezes at the same time." Ozpin looked at me with great sadness as I finished his statement. "Yes, that's right, If left to continue longer than a minute it will kill the person. However, it can be turned on and off with a simple aura touch. It's believed that Roman or Neopolitan's last owner used the "black blood" to turn her into a...slave."

"Is it still inside her?" Ozpin shook his head back and forth causing my sudden fear to lessen a little. "No, 'black blood' can last for years but it does dissipate to the point where it can no longer be used. This is what allowed Neopolitan to fight back against Roman without fear of having it used against her. If it were to be guessed she's been free of it's influence for about six months."

My heart jumped in my chest upon the realization that Neo couldn't be held responsible for what she did. Everything she did was in fear of being tortured every time she messed up or refused to do something. "Ozpin that proves she isn't connected to Roman and Cinder's plan. She can only be called a slave if anything." Ozpin sighed before pulling up files on his scroll and began to shift through them.

"Ozpin please, I have a plan that may work, but first I need to talk to her...Please!" Ozpin didn't look up from his scroll but began to type away for a minute. After a minute of painful silence, Ozpin motioned to the door. One of the black suits stepped into the room and handed Ozpin a file before stepping back out of the room.

"Don't worry Miss Rose, I already have a plan set up for Neopolitan. One I think you might enjoy very much." Ozpin slid the file across the table letting it stop right in front of me. I cautiously opened the file expecting it to contain something dangerous. However, when I opened up the file I found something that brought an intense amount of joy to me, almost as much as when I'd been given it before. "Ozpin are you serious?"

Ozpin smiled at me as I slid the file back over to him. "I see no reason not to. She's clearly very capable and I believe she can do great thing, but first how about we go talk to Neopolitan first."

 **So that was a clifhanger ending but don't worry your questions will be answered in the next chapter. Please leave a review if you got the time and then I will se you next time. Hopefully in a more well written chapter.**


	4. Team RNBYW

**So I just finished the chapter. I felt like I rushed but it could be just me. It might be a bit to the next chapter because I'm gonna make it longer than the others so watch out for that. Please leave a review and tell me how it was.**

Nothing is as nerve racking as being watched by dozens of men and women dressed in identical black suits each with their own arsenal of weapons capable of wiping out an entire unit of soldiers with ease. These were the Vale special forces. Each was a trained Hunter capable of killing both Grimm and Humans. Every step I took was being watched by as I followed behind Ozpin.

The hallway we ascended down was decorated with bright fluorescent lights that reflected on the sparkling white walls. Every fifty feet was a new door that led to some unknown room. Each guarded by a black suit. None of them spoke but their body language was clear. "Try something and you will die!"

Ozpin abruptly stopped before a door almost causing me to run right into him. With the quick activation of my aura, I slammed on my heels stopping just inches from his side. Ozpin made no notice that he'd seen me almost run into him as he waved a security card over a small panel before opening the door.

When Ozpin stepped inside I followed entering the darkly lit room. Once inside I took in my surrounding try to understand where I was. It didn't take more than a second to realize I was inside of an observation room.

All four walls in the room were aligned with some type of computer, most of them displaying a video feed from security cameras. Where there weren't computers on the wall there was a black lining making the room utterly soundproof. On one wall there was a door that led into the room adjoined to it.

Ozpin whispered something to the black suit sitting in front of a set of three monitors before motioning for me to take a seat. I quickly took a spot while watching the black suit as he turned on a large monitor sitting in front of him. When the monitor flickered to life it displayed a room identical to the one I'd been in with Ozpin. The only thing missing was the one-way mirror instead it was just a plain wall identical to the others.

Sitting in one of the chairs was Neo who was staring straight forward at the door. What threw me off was she was no longer in the outfit she'd been wearing when we first met. Instead, she was dressed in a light gray prison uniform. The uniform was too large for her and seemed drape over her body instead of hugging it like her old outfit did.

"Miss Rose before you are allowed to talk to Neopolitan there is somethings we must talk about. Do you understand?" I was quick to answer his question with a shake of my head up and down. Something inside me felt relieved to see Neo but something else knew she wasn't acting the same way as she was before. Neo was facing forward unmoving. Not even her usual watchful eyes moved.

"Miss Rose as you can tell Neopolitan is not acting as she was before, this is because of the medication she's been placed on. We had to sedate her for the doctors when she became...unruly. However there is no need for you to worry, we have stopped the medication and it should wear off in a few minutes...she will feel groggy for quite some time after."

I didn't look up to Ozpin as he talked but instead kept my eyes glued to the monitor in front of me. It didn't take till Neo's body began to stir in her spot. Each movement made my heart jump in my chest as she slowly came back to life. Finally, after what felt like hours, Neo began to shift turning her head while looking around the room, studying it. Neo's eyes looked up to the camera and I looked right into, replacing her recently dead stare was two completely alert eyes filled with fear, sadness, and every other emotion you could think of.

"Ozpin she's ready!" Ozpin looked up from his scroll looking at the monitor as Neo looked right at the camera. "I believe we can wait for a few more….." I cut Ozpin off before he was finished by repeating what I'd said before. This time in a much lower, harsher tone. "Opin she's ready!" Ozpin turned to look at me before quickly pulling a black card out of his pocket and holding it up to a scanner next to the door for the room Neo was in. "Yes, I do believe she is."

I stood up from my chair as Ozpin held the door open allowing me to step inside. When I stepped inside Neo shot up in her chair and tried to run toward me but was held back my multiple sets of chains bolted to the floor. The sound of metal being bent and twisted echoed through the room as she tore at her restraints. The only thing I could think to do was run forward and grab her hands to try and stop her from hurting herself.

When my hands touched hers Neo immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. Neo's strength wavered as she fell back into her chair trying to fight off the medication that was still in her system. I looked over to Ozpin as he brought an extra chair into the room so the three of us could sit down. Both he and I took a seat in the metal chair facing Neo.

Ozpin pulled out a scroll and slid it onto the table along with a key. "Neopolitan I give you this key so that you may relieve yourself of your restraints, but do know if you try to "do" anything there are plenty of guards outside this room who will use a lot less restraint than I will." Neo looked up from the ground and reached out taking the scroll and key from the table. Moving slowly Neo unlocked each of her restraints letting them fall to the ground.

"I will apologize for the "Precautions we took but do understand you were an unknown factor. However thanks to the medical exam and the input from Miss Rose we believe your interactions in this attack was not intentional and that your actions helped to push back the Grimm and Cinder Fall." Neo paid no attention to the headmaster but instead began to type away on her scroll. Within a few seconds of Ozpin, finishing Neo slid the scroll across the table over to me.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I hurt so many people and you and your friends ended up getting hurt. I deserve to be thrown away into a jail for what I've done. I just hope you can forgive me!" I read Neo's words before handing it over to Ozpin so he could see what she wrote. What she said broke my heart. Neo was trying to put the blame on herself for all the people who died and that she'd killed instead of on the people who forced her to.

"Neo you don't have to apologize for what happened, it wasn't your fault. Cinder and Roman forced you to do those things and they paid for it with their lives. The things...t-they did to you. For you to have fought back is a something amazing." At this point, I couldn't say anything more. I was choking up while trying to keep the tears from cascading down my face. Neo barely held back her own as a few slid down her cheeks.

Neo held her scroll up to me displaying her message clearly. "Why forgive me, I'm the reason that you got hurt." I realized Neo was trying to blame herself for me being shot by Cinder even though I put myself in the way of her arrow. "Neo I ran in the way of Cinder's arrow to protect my friends, after that, I was defenseless to stop her. The reason I'm her is because you saved me, so please stop trying to blame yourself." Finally, the dam burst and both Neo and I let our tears run freely. It felt like an hour had past when Neo and I finally stopped crying, each of us had run out of tears to shed.

Ozpin took this chance to sit forward and pace his file on the table. "Neopolitan if you wish to make up for your past there is a way you can. A way that does not involve prison." Ozpin opened the file and slid it across the table so Neo could read it. She picked it up and began to read the file. Her eyes began to move faster and faster as she read it trying to take it all in.

Neo once again held up her scroll displaying another message for Ozpin and I. "How can I do this after hurting so many people. I don't deserve it!" Ozpin reached forward and took the file from Neo before speaking to her. "I believe all people must be punished for the crimes no matter how small. However, punishments do not always have to be bad. The should be used as a way to teach lessons not to hurt someone. I believe the best way for you to make up for all those people your hurt is to pick up where they left off. Stand up against the turning tide of darkness and fight it back. Become a student here at Beacon and use our talent to save people instead of hurting them.

Neo looked down at the table and began to type away on her scroll finishing her message in less than three seconds. "I'll do it!" I shot forward from my chair and picked Neo up into a hug almost crushing the small girl. "I'm so happy that you'll be joining us! I can't believe it!" I kept Neo in the hug before setting her back down in her chair and returning to my own.

Ozpin signed a sheet of paper and made it official. "Miss Rose I'm proud to announce that you have a new member joining your team from now on you will be referred to as team RNBYW (Rainbow). However, there are a few things we need to discuss. We still need some information about you first being a name."

Neo looked at me before typing away on her scroll. "My name is Neopolitan Tortoni." Ozpin looked at the message before going through and filling in a few more pages. "Then the last thing, will you please show us how you truly look. I don't mind dual semblance users but I do wish for us to show our true selves." I looked at Ozpin trying to understand what he meant by dual semblance, my question quickly answered when Neo let out a silent sigh before turning off her other semblance.

Neo's appearance immediately began to change, not her structure but the color of her hair and eyes and even her skin. Neo's hair changed from its pink, brown and white color to her left side being black and the other being white. Neo's eyes replicated this changing to match her hair while her skin became slightly paler becoming a mix between my own and Weiss'. "WOW"

"Yes, it is truly quite a marvel. I knew someone who had a dual semblance and one of them allowed him to change just as Neo does." Neo looked away as her cheeks became flushed after revealing her true identity. "I do believe it is nice to see the face behind the mask. At Beacon, we do not discriminate for age, race, gender, color, or past. We want to create the next generation of protectors who will fight for Remnant not against it." Ozpin stood up from his chair as he clicked away on his scroll.

"Now that this has subject has been concluded I would like to get out to the real world. So if you would please follow me we can retrieve you some clothes that are...more fitting. Also, we cannot return the gear you had originally, sadly they wish to keep it in lock up. So please look into getting some more appropriate attire when the stores in Vale reopen. As for your weapon I've told the forge master that you have free access to all materials for a new weapon, so please feel free to create something unique. Finally, Miss Rose, I've sent you a file, please share it with your team so that they understand the situation. And if you would visit them. I feel the may be worried about you!"

At the sudden mention of my team, I realized they hadn't had contact with me since I left them. Neo and I took off after Ozpin as he walked through the maze of hallways till we exited the building. The entire time we walked the black suits gave Neo a piercing gaze that made the already small girl shrink even more. Once outside Neo released another one of her silent sighs as she sat down on a bench in the courtyard.

"Are you alright?" Neo looked up at me while typing on her scroll. "Yes just tired. A lot just happened very quickly." I looked at the girl and it dawned on me how much had happened in little over twenty-four hours. Penny had been killed, Grimm attacked, Cinder tried to kill us, I went to the hospital, Then I got a new teammate. All in all, it could have been worse.

"Ya a lot has happened, but hey we made it out in one piece." Neo looked up at me and smiled causing my own face to blush. "Hey Neo, I have a question." Neo Looked at me and tilted her head like a confused dog. "Why me? I mean I'm not the strongest and definitely the brightest. So why me?"

Neo looked away from me trying to keep from meeting my eye as she typed. Even as she tried I never moved my eyes away from her. I'd joined up with others for fights but every time they went back. For Neo, it might have been because she didn't have anything to go back to. Before I could continue the downward spiral into my mind Neo shoved her scroll in my face so close I the words morphed into a blob.

"You were the first person who's ever been kind to me. Most of my life I've been used as a weapon but you treated me like a person. Then on the tower when you got shot it made me do something I haven't ever done before." I looked at Neo trying to remember what happened on the tower. The fight had gone pretty quickly that all I could remember was the major things here and there. The only thing that came to mind was after I'd been shot and I heard someone say my name. When I heard it I thought it was Jaune or Pyrrha but it didn't fit.

Neo grabbed my hand and looked at me as she held her message up to me. "You made me speak. I have no memory of ever doing it before but you made me speak when you got shot. I want to do that again, I want to speak and I think you can help me!"

Giving Neo the biggest smile I could muster. "Ok, I'll do it. As your new team leader and friend, I will help you to speak." Neo returned the smile with full force as she lurched forward grappling me into and embrace. I wasn't ready for it and in the end, we both fell to the ground in a heap of limbs. Neo's grip tightened around my waist forcing the air from my lungs. "NEO...CAN'T …..BBRREEAATHhh!"

Neo Immediately lets go of my waist and sat back on the bench after untangling from me. It took me a second to catch my breath. Once it returned to normal I jumped up from the ground before brushing the dust off my skirt. Neo gave me and a sorrowful look from her spot on the bench. I extended my hand to her as she looked up from the ground. "It's ok. I'm just used to being the one who surprises people with hugs. So how about we head back to the dorm so I can give you a change of clothes. And while we head there I can call my team and set up a meeting. Hopefully this time you won't get hurt."

Neo gave me a quick nod as she shot up from her spot and followed me toward the dorms. I pulled out my scroll and tried to figure out who to call. Yang would probably be too worried about me to have a rational conversation and Weiss would probably yell at me for not having called sooner. The only rational choice would be Blake.

I quickly pulled up Blake's contact and clicked on her number. It wasn't more than a few seconds till I heard the dial tone start and even shorter till someone answered it. "Hello, Ruby is that you!"

"Ya it's me, Blake, I'm sorry for not calling sooner but I went straight from the hospital to a meeting with Ozpin. It's been kinda hectic."

"Jeez Ruby, are you ok? I mean the hospital what happened?" Blake's voice was calm but filled with angst after hearing I was in the hospital. Probably wasn't the best way to start a conversation

"I'm fine they just made me stay longer and I fell asleep before I thought to call you guys. On that note where are you and are the others with you?"

Blake said something that I could hear to someone wherever she was before returning to the scroll. "Weiss is out in the waiting room and I'm with Yang at the infirmary. Yang got hurt when we ran into some White Fang, but don't worry she's fine."

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind of what could have happened last night. And what had happened to Yang? I pushed the thought away remembering how strong she was and that she could pull through anything. "Are you guys good enough to come back to the room, I have some important stuff to tell you guys!"

Blake once again started talking to someone in the room and I heard her mention my name before hearing Yang start shouting something. I heard the sound of the scroll being tossed around before Blake started shouting into the scroll. "Ya we should be able to be there in an hour and a half, YANG SIT DOWN, Once We finish her check up we'll head back. Yang's really worried so it might be closer to an hour." Blake was still trying to fight off Yang by the sound of the scroll once again being tossed around. I opted to simply shout through the scroll "Ok sounds fine." before hanging up.

Once I put the scroll in my pocket I looked to Neo who looked worried. "We have a little bit more than an hour till the others get there. That's enough time to get cleaned up." Neo nodded as I turned towards our dorm building and pushed the door open. Neo followed as we went inside and began to follow the stairs to our floor once there I picked up my speed and ran towards our room. Neo followed almost keeping pace with my slow run.

Once outside the door I flashed my scroll over the locking and flung the door open showing Neo the room. "Welcome to your new room! Neo and I stepped into the room as it dawned on me. The room was a DISASTER. When everything had gone down after Yang's fight she'd been very upset and had trashed some things including putting a hole in the wall.

When we stepped inside I looked to Neo trying to gauge her reaction. Neo didn't seem fazed at all looking at the destroyed room. I quickly took action using my semblance to clean up the floor of trash and place knocked over books and a desk back into place. Once I was done It was more "Livable" than it was before. "Sorry about that, Ummm, yeah." Neo walked over to the center of the room and began typing on her scroll as she looked at the now slightly less disastrous room.

"This is nothing compared to living with Roman. He liked to live in hidden obscure places. Usually in old warehouses that hadn't been cleaned since they'd been abandoned."

I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Roman the guy who got mad if he got dirt on his suit living in the bums. Neo cracked a smile as she walked over and pulled out a chair from Yang's desk and sat down in it. "So first thing first is getting cleaned up. I'm gonna get a shower first since I'm quick and then you can go. But first, let me grab you some clothes. They might not fit very well but it's better than a prison uniform."

Neo smiled again as I walked over to my dresser and began to root through my clothes. I quickly grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a tank top, and a new set of underwear and bra for myself. For Neo, I grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt I'd bought that was too big. I turned to Neo holding up one of my bra's to her and immediately felt ashamed. Neo's bust was clearly larger than mine, it was much closer to Yang's than mine. "Ya well, this isn't going to work!"

I walked over to Yang's dresser and began to look for one of her "less used bra's" I took a little bit but I eventually found one that would be close enough and wasn't to "used". I placed Neo's clothes down on the desk and kept mine in my hand as I walked over to the bathroom. Before I stepped inside into the bathroom I turned to face Neo who did the same as she swiveled in her chair. "Those clothes should work until we can go to the School's store to some clothes that are better fitting. Later when Vale returns to normal we can get you a new wardrobe.

Neo smiled at me while looking at the clothes I'd given her. I quickly started to disrobe once I'd locked the door. I pulled off my cloak and hung it on the doors hook keeping it safe from the dirty ground. I pulled off my boots and began to work the rest of my combat gear off. It took longer than normal clothes since I had so many layers. Once It was done I shoved my dirty clothes into my hamper in the corner and turned on the shower.

It took a while for the water to warm up but once enough steam had settled in the small room I stepped in letting the soothing water cast over my body. I could feel my muscles relax as dirt of battle melted off my skin. I winced as I turned and the water hit the wound Cinder had given me.

When I looked at it was still seal shut with the help of a few stitches but it wasn't healing like my other wounds did. The edges of the wound had darkened due to the heat of the arrow. I extended my hand to touch the wound and immediately reeled back in pain as my finger brushed the wound. The world began to turn as I reached out grabbing the wall of the shower trying not to fall over.

The flash of pain began to fade as I steadied myself and tried to catch my breath. I'd received plenty of wounds since learning how to fight Grimm but never had a wound caused this much pain. I quickly caught my breath and punched the pain to the back of my mind trying not to think about it. In time my aura would heal the wound and the pain would be a thing of the past.

I stepped back under the shower head and began to wash the dirt and grime from the day before. I felt the weight of the day fall from my body with the dirt and muck making me feel renewed with energy. I quickly washed my hair and felt even lighter as I stepped out of the shower.

I stepped onto the shower matt trying to limit the spread of water on the floor. I grabbed my towel and quickly began to dry my body and hair to a manageable state. After a minute or two I placed the towel on my hook and grabbed the stack of clothes I'd brought and began to put them on.

It felt weird no longer being in combat gear as if I was naked. At the same time, it was nice, wearing real clothes allowed normal life, or as normal a life as mine to settle back in. Once I'd finished putting on my clothes I opened the door and stepped back into the room. The sight before was one I'll never forget.

Neo was sitting on my bed "How she figured out which one was mine is beyond me" fast asleep. Neo chest was rising slowly up and down in a regular tempo. When looked over I could see Neo's hair color shift back and forth with every breath. I quickly reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair out of Neo's face.

Neo shifted and her eyes shot open as she lunged out and grabbed my arm. Not a second later Neo let go with a look of worry in her eyes fearing she'd hurt me. "Neo I'm fine, I'm sorry I woke you up you just looked so cute I couldn't help it." Both mine and Neo's face grew red as we quickly looked away from each other. Neo jumped down from the bed and quickly grabbed the clothes from Yang's desk and stepped into the bathroom closing the door behind her.

I walked over to my bed and jumped up onto it and pulled out my scroll. I pulled up the file Ozpin had given to me and began to go through it. Most of it was boring information about showing having Neo join us would affect our training. The other part was her reason for her joining us. I quickly made three copies of the file for Yang, Weiss, and Blake for they got back. The next thing I needed to plan out was how I was going to explain this to the team. Before I could my scroll light up saying I'd received a message.

I picked up my scroll and opened the message from Blake and read it. Leaving the Infirmary be back in 5 min. I closed my scroll and started to scramble around the room trying to figure out how to tell them about the new teammate and how not to get killed. I quickly grabbed the file and began to scribble out Neo's name on each that way I could ease them into the new idea. The next thing was I needed to hide Neo.

I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. I got no response and realized Neo had left her scroll on the desk. "Hey, Neo are you done...Uh, respond with one knock for yes, two for no." Two knocks echoed from the bathroom giving me her answer. "Uh the others will be back soon, Will you be ready by then," Neo Responded with one knock and I sighed in relief Ok Neo this may sound weird but can you stay in there until I tell you to come out. It will help make things easier. Neo responded with a single knock confirming she understood

Ok good maybe this will work and no one will die...yet. I thought. I quickly grabbed the files and sat down one Weiss' bed. I couldn't help but feel nervous at how the team would react. Blake would be upset but would be ok with it. Weiss would probably yell and try to figure out why it was a bad idea and Yang. Well, Yang would probably try and kill Neo...Again.

My hurt about busted out of my chest as the door opened and Blake, Weiss, and Yang walked into the room. Before I could no anything Yang vaulted over Weiss and grabbed me into a one armed hug. The force behind the hug caused the air to jump out of my lungs and made me choke for air. I quickly started to tap Yang telling her I couldn't breathe. Yang let go with a quick sorry as she wiped a tear from her face.

"Sorry, Ruby it's just I was so worried. You left and the tower exploded and you never called. We had no Idea what happened." I couldn't help but feel guilty as I looked at my team I'd left behind. Yang's arm was in a sling, Weiss had a bandage on her head and Blake had bandages around her stomach. "What happened." I could barely choke it out as I saw what happened to my team. If I'd been there I could have stopped them from being hurt.

"Ruby it's ok, We ran into some White Fang after killing some Alphas. Then Adam Blake's old partner showed up. If it wasn't for Weiss here I could have lost my arm. We managed to push them back."

A few tears rolled down my face as Yang pulled me into another hug. "I'm sorry, I wish I could be there it's...with Cinder, I couldn't just let her be." Yang let go before giving me her usual big smile then patted me on the head. "We know what happened, Jaune called earlier and we got the gist of the story. I'm just glad you're ok."

Blake walked over to her bed and sat down as Yang to a spot next to her. "So Ruby what did you want to talk about. It seemed pretty important when you called me earlier." I quickly perked up remembering what this meeting was for. I grabbed the files and handed them out to the three and sat back down trying not to pass out from fear.

Blake and Weiss both opened the files and began to flip through the pages, both with wide-eyed expressions. Yang did the same but the entire time kept a more stoic look. Hopefully, she didn't figure out who the new teammate was yet. "Ruby, what is this?"

"W-well the reason I wasn't able to call you was because I was with Ozpin. We talked about what happened last night and about that."

"About getting a new teammate?" I looked at the three nervously before responding. "Yea, you see this was the only thing we could do." Weiss put the file down while Blake continued to read the pages. "Ruby why is the name scratched out. Why tell us we're getting a new teammate but not tell us their name?"

"We'll I wanted you guys to know first before I introduced, or well reintroduced them." Blake peeked up over the file as she brought it down, seemingly interested in the last comment. "Ruby, Who is it?"

Panic filled my body as I looked back and forth between the three girls. "Just promise you won't freak out!" Yang sat down next to me and grabbed my shoulder. "Ruby it's fine just tell us." I looked at Yang and could only hope Yang wouldn't overreact. "Ok but first I need to do this. Yang gave me a confused look as I used my semblance to handcuff her to the bed using her good arm. "RUBY WHAT THE HELL!"

"I'm sorry it's just a safety precaution." Yang scolded as she tugged on the handcuff but quickly gave up. I looked to the two on the other bed and asked. "Promise me you won't overreact." Blake gave a quick nod while Weiss replied with. "I promise so just please get on with it." I nervously looked at Yang who gave me a nod. "You can come out."

The sound of the lock clicking open singled Neo had heard me as she opened the bathroom door. Blake and Weiss peeked around the bed's post trying to get a look as Neo stepped out. Everything was quite as Neo entered the room and everyone sat still. Then all hell broke loose as Yang lurched toward Neo almost dragging the bed with her. "WHY THE HELL IS SHE HERE. I TOLD YOU I'D KILL HER IF I SAW HER AGAIN."

I grabbed Yang's arm and tried to keep her back as she reached out towards Neo who jumped back in surprise. "YOU THINK CHANGING YOUR HAIR WOULD KEEP ME FROM RECOGNIZING YOU." This time Blake and Weiss worriedly placed where hands on their weapons handle ready if Neo did anything. "YANG STOP IT LET ME EXPLAIN!"

Four sets of eyes gazed down at me at the sudden loudness of my voice. Even Neo jumped when she heard my voice. Yang settled down as she but never took her eyes off of Neo. "Ruby why is she here." I pulled out my scroll and pulled up the file on Neo Ozpin had given me. It was the last thing I wanted to use but at this point, it was all I had.

Yang looked away from Neo and took the scroll from my hand. Yang began to read Neo's file, her eyes grew wide as she kept going and eventually she sat down. When she was done Yang looked up to Neo with eyes filled with anger and sadness. "Why….Why would someone do that...I'm sorry...no one should ever have to go through that." Blake and Weiss looked confused as I pulled the handcuff off Yang's hand. "I'm sorry too, but please understand it was this or she went to jail." Yang locked me in a hug while the two other looked around in confusion.

The heiress finally snapped out of pure confusion. "Ok, will someone please tell me what just happened. I mean seriously one second Yang's trying to commit murder and the next she's saying sorry." Yang let go of me and walked over to the other two and handed Weiss my scroll. Both Blake and Weiss began to read the file and had a very similar reaction. The simplest way to explain it was disgust. Not at Neo but what had been done to her.

"Now you know why she joined our team. It may sound weird but I trust Neo and if she hadn't been on that tower I wouldn't be here. It may take a while but we are a team so we have to stick together." The three nodded together slowly understanding what I meant. "So umm Team RNBYW that is actually a step up from team RWBY huh. I mean no more confusion for you huh sis." I gave Yang a smile and I returned it for full force happy she could crack a joke.

"So umm Neo anything you want to say?" Neo nodded at me as she walked over to her scroll and picked it up. She quickly started to type away while Blake, Weiss, and Yang gave her a confused look. With One last touch, Neo sent a message to our scrolls that way she didn't have to pass her phone around.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you guys. Even if I was forced to I can't help but feel guilty. I hurt you on more than one occasion and I don't know what I can do to make it up. It may take some time but I will try." All four of us looked at the message and immediately felt guilty. Neo was blaming herself more than she needed to.

I went to speak but was cut off by Yang. "Neo of all of us here I can say I hated you the most. I hated you for hurting me and my team. Now that I see how much they hurt you and what they forced you to do...against your will...I no longer feel that way. I can't say that it's 100% gone but I can say it's enough to be able to forgive you. So don't hate yourself, hate the people who hurt you. Because that's what I'll be doing. NO ONE HURTS MY TEAM AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

Neo smiled as tears rolled down her face. This was something she never expected to happen. It was something I didn't expect either. Yang was known for holding grudges towards people. To see her switch so easily was something I never expected. However seeing how protective Yang was of the people around her it made sense.

Weiss stepped forward toward Neo and stopped a few feet from Neo and removed her hand from Myrtenaster's handle. "I agree with what Yang said. I don't blame you for what happened but we still need to work things out between us. If you're willing to try then so am I." Neo looked at the heiress and gave a nod as Weiss walked back over to Blake. You should probably say something too.

Blake stood up with my scroll still in her hands looking back between it and Neo. She took a deep breath as she handed it back to me before facing Neo. "I don't blame you for what happened. I myself have done some things that haunt I wished never to reveal but they came back for me. I was terrified but thanks to everyone around me I've been pushing through it and creating a new life where I can help people. If you're willing to try so am I. I will help you to start over like everyone else did for me."

Blake didn't say anything else as she walked away from Neo. As she did she reached her hand up to her bow and pulled it free displaying her cat ears to all of us. The only response to all of this was from Neo who sent us a message displaying two of the simplest words that hold the most meaning in the entire world.

THANK YOU!

"So what now?" Everyone looked around at each other trying to think of something to do. None of really knew since most of the last day was going from one situation to the next. The answer came with a loud rumble from Yang's stomach. "Wow, Yang did you swallow an Ursa last night," Yang smirked at Weiss giving away her intention of a terrible pun. "Oh stop it Ice Queen don't be so GRIMM."

Weiss looked away from Yang unable to deal with the blonde terrible joke. "Yang please if your gonna tell a joke, use a good. Even by your standards that were not very good." Yang sighed and slouched over replying with a sad and long. "Yeah." Immediately after Yang perked back up with a smile. "So then my stomach has decided we need to get some food!" We all shook our heads in agreement and began to head towards the door. "Team RWBY...I mean RNBYW...To the mess hall."

As I reached the door Neo grabbed my arm holding me back. I shouted after the others saying we would catch up before being pulled into the room. When Neo finally let go I turned to face the small girl and was surprised to find her blushing. "Neo what's wrong?"

Neo looked up at me becoming even brighter as she motioned for me to come closer. I felt my own face brighten as I closed the distance till I was only a few inches from her. I expected Neo to do something but what happened was better than anything I could have expected.

In one of the quietest, most frail but also cutest voices Neo said: "Thank You!" I almost passed out after hearing her voice. It was too cute. I stumbling back away from No who looked surprised like I was scared of her. Neo started looking around panicky before I pulled her into a surprise hug. "That was so cute. Oh My God!" Neo instantly relaxed in my arms as I tossed her back and forth.

Finally, Neo squirmed a bit in my hands and I took it as the signal to let go. When I did Neo took in a deep breath as she pulled out her scroll. "Thank you, If it you didn't help me I don't know what would have happened." I handed Neo back her scroll realizing a lot could have happened and things could have been a lot worse. "Ya, luckily they understood what happened. If not I don't know what Yang would have done. She can be hard headed." I paused before continuing as I looked away from Neo. "I'm sorry I showed that file, It was personal but it was the only thing I could think so they could understand why you're joining us."

Neo nudged my side making look at the scroll she shoved into my face. "It's ok, for now, the may see me as a frail little girl with a sad past but I'll show them how strong I am." Neo smiled at me before she walked out the door. I ran out after her and began to follow her. We made a handful of turns before and went down a flight of stairs before ending up in the courtyard. I watched Neo look around trying to choose a path to follow. Finally, I asked.

"Neo do you know where we are going?"

 **So If you guys liked it leave a review. If you didn't tell me why. Thanks**


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